Warped
by SoullessOne95
Summary: Lily Luna Potter was having a perfectly ordinary day. Her friends were bickering, she had too much homework and received a detention during DADA. But then she went to sleep, only to wake up to have a quaffle thrown at her head by Sirius Black who (by her best estimate) died about ten years prior to her birth. And that, in Lily's mind, is when things started to seem a little warped.
1. A Day in The Life (Part One)

**A/N: Hi - welcome to my new fanfic! Hope you enjoy it, I essentially wanted to do something a little different (**_**okay - I know that timetravel fics are nothing new... but I promise, this one'll actually be kind of creative. I hope!) **_

**Disclaimer: As always, pretty much all credit goes to JK Rowling. The plot, and any OCs are mine, but I'm just using her world as a playground. Because I still can't deal with the fact that the series is over, six years after Deathly Hallows.**

**Finally, a MASSIVE thank-you to my beta-reader 'appa-appa-away' who has put in a huge amount of work in proofreading and helping with this fic. Seriously - I am so grateful for the amount of work she's put in...**

**And with that, enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review or a favorite :D**

* * *

As I scratch these words onto the parchment in front of me, I'd like to begin by firmly establishing that I am not insane.

Or at least, I don't THINK I'm insane. I guess that's what an awful lot of insane people say, isn't it? That they aren't insane. It's not like you can really tell if you're insane or not. I mean, you can't really tell if anyone's insane. You might think someone's insane, but for all you know, you're the insane one, and they're actually the normal one. I'm rambling, aren't I? Shoot... This probably isn't helping my "I'm not insane" claim, when I think about it.

Seriously though; I'm not insane. Though I have questioned my sanity before - my life can most definitely be classified under the category of 'pretty damned crazy.'

For starters, I'm a witch. Like, I can cast spells, and brew potions. I also know a lot about magical creatures, and I can fly on a broomstick. In fact, I learned about those things at school. I think most people would count that as relatively insane. Well, most Muggles anyway. By now, I'd expect the rest of the wizarding world would've gotten used to it?

Secondly, my dad saved the world. Which I believe even the rest of us wizards think is pretty bloody insane. Especially when you think that he did it at the age of seventeen (Talk about pressure. I'm not sure what people expect of me when I come of age, but I get the feeling the bar is set a little higher than I'm likely to achieve).

Believe it or not, before the events of this journal, I never classified my life as insane. A little crazy, for sure, but never really a 'holy hell, what is wrong with me?' level of insanity. But that was before I stopped being Lily and became Luna. That was before I met the Marauders. Before I found messages from myself about 50 years after I wrote them, and fell in love with a man who died before I was even born.

That was before I traveled through time.

* * *

**2nd November 2022**

* * *

It's hard to think of a decent place to start this crazy, mind-bending tale, but I figured I'd start on the very last day my life was comparatively normal; the 2nd of November 2022. In fact, the 2nd of November 2022 was incredibly normal; for me, at any rate. It started, as most of my mornings do, with Emma shaking me awake.

"LILY! LILY! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WOULD YOU GET THE HELL UP!"

I am not the best at getting out of bed, something that Emma is more than aware of. She's taken to getting up twenty minutes earlier than she needs to, dedicating her time to insuring that I am somehow awake for our morning lessons. To say that she takes this responsibility seriously would be an understatement…

"AUGAMENTI!" Emma yelled. A thick flow of water burst from her wand, landing on – you guessed it – me.

I screamed loudly before tumbling out of my bed, rolling - painfully, I might add - onto the floor. I immediately jumped on the villain who had assaulted my slumber. Emma yelped as I barraged into her, knocking her to the ground with me. We proceeded to roll across the ground, until I emerged victorious, with her unable to move under my weight.

And that is how my dorm-mates found me on top of Emma, on the floor, completely soaked, slowly dripping onto her.

Believe it or not we still haven't reached the "I'm insane" bit yet.

Twenty minutes later, and the two of us were happily walking down to the Great Hall, the nature of my wake-up call completely forgotten. My previous tiredness evaporated, I cheerfully wandered into the hall, assumed my seat at the Gryffindor table, and then piled my plate with food.

Before I proceed with this tale, I think a quick introduction to my life is in order. Starting with me. My name is Lily Luna Potter, I'm fifteen years old and the daughter of Harry and Ginny Potter. I'm 5 foot, 6 inches tall, have bright red hair, and play chaser on my house Quidditch team. In most ways, I'd probably say that I take after my mother. Alongside the trademark red hair and Quidditch position, Dad also says that I act and sound like her, and when I was little, he always used to remark that I should act very carefully handling butter dishes when he was around. I never got this joke, but I'm pretty sure it was some sort of reference to Mum, because she'd always glare daggers whenever he said it.

Overall, I'm a lot quieter than either of my brothers. I get decent grades - when I get up, that is - and I'd like to think that I'm reasonably well-liked by my peers. I'm very well-behaved. In fact, before recent events, I never did anything that was seen as outside of the rules, which resulted in my Uncle Ron referring to me as 'Hermione 2.0.' (This statement was usually followed with my Dad imitating Auntie Hermione's voice and saying something like "We could've been killed! Or worse... expelled!")

My parents have a lot of inside jokes I don't really get.

At Hogwarts, I have two best friends. I've obviously already introduced Emma; in case you're wondering, the water thing was actually pretty tame for her. She once tried to wake me up by throwing some Lepricorn gold onto my bed, and then left a Niffler on my bedside table. Where she got the Niffler or the Lepricorn gold is beyond me, and quite frankly, I don't think I want to know. I legitimately cannot imagine a less enjoyable way of waking up in the morning. Asides from the fact that it was a very abrupt - and surprisingly painful - way of easing myself from slumber, I also got a detention from Professor Longbottom for '_causing unnecessary disruption and panic within the Gryffindor Tower.' _Oh yeah - like it's my fault that I WAS VICIOUSLY MAULED!

Physically, Emma get's recognized for two features. The first is the fact that she's insanely tall... to the extent that Albus looks short next to her (and for the record, my brother is not short.) She's also very, very pretty. She has long, chestnut brown hair that flows down to about chest level. It's always incredibly sleek and straight; even when she first gets out of bed in the morning. To say I'm jealous is an understatement. I'd kill for my ginger curls to look anything like her straight locks.

My other best friend is my cousin Hugo, who is often worse at getting out of bed than I am. The lucky git doesn't have to dorm with Emma though - he never gets woken up via a jet of water. (Well, maybe at home. Rose is a bloody menace when it comes to teasing her younger brother). While I only met Emma when we first arrived at Hogwarts, I've known Hugo since before I could walk and talk. He and Rose are the offspring of my mum and dad's best friends (and relatives), Hermione and Ron Weasley, and as such Hugo and Rose pretty much live at my house, in much the same way that James, Albus and I pretty much live at theirs.

Hugo is every bit the Weasley. With bright red hair and more freckles than skin, Mum and Dad say he's the spitting image of Ron when he first arrived at Hogwarts. Generally, he's the quietest of our group. Whereas Emma and I are loud (especially Emma; I think she probably has the record for 'Most Silencing Charms cast on one Person') and occasionally a bit crazy, Hugo tends to be the voice of reason. Don't get me wrong; he's an awesome cousin and an awesome friend. He's just quieter than Emma and I are. Which - when I think about it - probably isn't a bad thing.

By the time Hugo had descended from the seventh floor to eat his breakfast, there was only about fifteen minutes before the first class of the day - Transfiguration - was scheduled to start. Emma immediately began to chastise him for getting up so late, to which Hugo responded by breaking a piece of his toast off and chucking it at her head, resulting in her flinging a bit of egg at him, resulting in him flicking some of his pumpkin juice at her.

This is just par of the course for these two. Once they'd settled down, Hugo turned to address me.

"So, how was getting up this morning. A couple of third years thought someone'd committed a mass murder in your dormitory," he said, his teeth grinding through a mouthful of potato.

"That isn't far from the truth. SOMEONE -" I shot a glare at Emma around this point "- decided it'd be funny to wake me up by blasting a jet of water in my face."

Hugo began to laugh, before attempting to conceal it by turning it into a very unconvincing hacking cough.

"How horrible! I have complete sympathy for you. What a rude and totally unhilarious thing to do," he managed to choke out before falling into hysterics, Emma joining him.

"Gotta wonder what I did to deserve best-ruddy-friends like you two..." I muttered, causing the pair of them to laugh even harder, before following me out of the Great Hall.

Following that, classes proceeded as normal. Emma got yelled at in Transfiguration for attempting to turn all of Hugo's clothes a bright pink. She failed, and instead turned his ink that shade. Hugo was forced to write in pink characters for the rest of the day. We were given mounds of homework from both Flitwick and Binns' (Seriously, who gives a damn about the Scandinavian Goblin Uprising? Y'know, excluding the Scandinavian Goblin's.) I had tomato soup for lunch, while Hugo and Emma both had pasta. We all passed notes in Defence Against The Dark Arts (_I've stuck them in here, just to be thorough...)_

* * *

**Lils,**

_You gotta help me! I'm bored out of my mind here! And I'm pretty sure I can hear some sort of squeaking coming from Dunnock's pocket!_

**Yours in need,  
Emma.**

* * *

_Quit being mean to poor old Duncan! I'm sure you're just imagining the squeaking. Though, Hugo did say that they found a Kneazle under his bed at one point. I'm pretty sure he was joking._

**Love,  
Lily.**

* * *

_WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY FOUND A KNEAZLE! I'm going to die, aren't I? This is the end of little old Emma. They'll find my corpse inside some weird creature, and everyone'll say; "Poor old Emma. She shouldn't've had to go that way...!"_

**Yours Terrifiedly,  
****Emma.****  
**

* * *

**Emma,**

_Stop being so obvious when you pass these notes! I don't want a detention! And quit being a loon; you know that there is no Kneazle just as well as I do! Also, 'Terrifiedly' isn't a word._

**Yours Exasperatedly,  
****Lily.**

* * *

_For reference's sake, I'd like to establish that there TOTALLY was a Kneazle. But why should that bother you?! I mean, c'mon - Kneazle's are pretty much just weirdly deformed puppies! It's his doxy collection that you should be worried about..._

**Can anyone else hear wings?  
****Hugo.**

* * *

**Hugo,**

I_ am seriously going to kill you. Now there's no way she'll shut up! _

**You're the worst cousin ever,  
Lily.**_  
_

* * *

**Guys,**

_Seriously - I'm pretty sure I saw a flash of blue from inside Dunnock's robes! He's probably carrying an entire menagerie with him, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, and set them all on us!_

**Emma.**

* * *

**Emma,**

_Seriously! Stop being so rude about Duncan. There's no crime in having a hobby!_

**Lily.**

* * *

**Lily,**

_Quick warning, I'm pretty sure that Prof. Finigan can see you passing notes. I'd suggest making sure Emma doesn't pass any more notes, or you'll get caught for sure!_

**Hugo.**

* * *

It should be established that immediately after receiving that note, Emma proceeded to very obviously try to pass me a message, resulting in it getting confiscated, and the three of us receiving detention. After DADA, we went to Herbology, where Prof. Longbottom greeted us all warmly. Aside from knowing mine and Hugo's parents, he also took a shine to Emma when he first met her, as she had shown "significant skill in the field of Herbology." Admittedly, the girl did really enjoy the subject, it being the only one she routinely did homework for, and paid constant attention in.

Once we'd all finished twigging and picking the Fornsberry Bush, (_"They can only be picked if you tickle them in just the right spot, class. Right in the underarm of the branch should do it!"_) the three of us picked up our bags and make the long journey back to the common room. After we'd trekked up the countless staircases and secret passageways, we found ourselves outside the Fat Lady.

"Honking Hypogriffs!" Emma said.  
"No need to say it so loud, my dear," She replied before swinging open to let us in.

Like I said... A perfectly normal day.

And nothing out of the ordinary happened after that either. I studied for a little while in the common room, before proceeding to challenge Albus to a chess match - which I won, for the record - then I studied for a little while longer. After that, Hugo, Emma and I headed down to the Great Hall where we all had dinner. Hugo was caught trying to throw bits of Yorkshire Pudding at Emma, Emma was told off for very obviously kicking Hugo under the table; just run-of-the-mill stuff. Then we headed back to the common room, I attempted (and failed) to lower my ever growing mound of homework, before Emma decided she wanted to go to bed. I went with her, and after bidding Hugo goodnight, I followed Emma up into our dormitory, and (after gossiping with her for a good half hour) went to bed, and proceeded to fall asleep.

I should warn you... this is where things start to get crazy.

* * *

**September 1st 1974**

* * *

There is nothing quite like being on the Hogwarts Express. Walking past the compartments, where Hogwarts students are casually milling about, chatting while the British countryside flies by is a pretty unique and exciting experience. It's a trip I look forward to at the start and end of each term and – by now – it's a train I feel pretty experienced travelling on. But when I opened my eyes, and took in my familiar but totally foreign environment… I've got to say, I'd never seen the Hogwarts Express quite like this.

I had been slouched across one of the leather seats in an empty compartment. Nobody seemed to be paying me any attention, with student's passing the closed door to my cabin as soon as they realized it was occupied. For the life of me, I couldn't comprehend what I was doing on the Hogwarts Express. I knew it wasn't September 1st. I could distinctly remember what I'd been doing the previous day; passing notes to Emma, beating Albus in chess and Hugo writing in pink ink for most of the day. But - believe it or not - when I stepped into the corridor outside, the situation continued to get weirder.

Firstly, I didn't recognize anyone walking past. Not a single soul. I admit that I have serious issues remembering names and faces, but when I walk down the Hogwarts Express in real life, I at least recognize people from school. I might not know their names, or who they are, but I'm still able to vaguely remember that I had seen them around at some point. So the fact that I was walking past a horde of unfamiliar strangers was pretty unsettling to me. More than that, none of them seem to recognize me! Honest to God, I'm not a vain person, but from the moment I arrived at Hogwarts, at least four fifths of the school knew my name and what I looked like. It's the general side effect of having famous family members. Throughout my life, my face has been plastered in a wide assortment of wizarding magazine's – despite Dad's best efforts – and I legitimately cannot remember ever being in a public place without being recognized by someone. So the fact that all of these school kids didn't have a clue who I was, seemed a little odd.

But that wasn't all. Not only did I not recognize anyone on the train itself, but some of the things people were talking about seemed off. Really off. Like, two kids walked past me (they looked like second years) chatting about the newest broom models that were coming out. One of the kids excitedly squeaked about how awesome the new Nimbus 1000 looked. Which was very odd, considering I've only ever seen the Nimbus 1000 in old Quiddich museums. So - deciding to tell those poor sods just how out of date they were - I butted in...

"You realize that the Nimbus 1000 is ancient, right?" I asked, wondering if this was some sort of stupid second-year joke that I wasn't understanding. "It's older than a Cleansweep Four!"

I was expecting the second-year to blush in embarrassment, or maybe laugh at his weird joke. What I didn't expect was...

"Wicked! They've announced a new Cleansweep?!"

The pair then proceeded to walk straight past me, discussing in excitement that a new model of Cleansweep was coming out. To say that I was creeped out at this point would be an understatement.

Of course, the first thought that popped into my head was that this was just some weird, convoluted dream. But, it didn't _feel_ like a dream. I pinched myself on the arm... and it hurt. Something very weird was happening to me, but it didn't think I was sleeping. It felt as real to me as when I was completely awake; every sight, smell and sound seemed completely legitimate.

I was confused as hell and as I walked down the train, every snippet of conversation I heard made me feel progressively more insane. I heard a trio of third-year girls excitedly discussing the _'_new' Muggle pop group ABBA, a pair of fifth year boys talking about some Muggle killings, and despite the fact that I had walked down a pretty long segment of the train, I still hadn't recognized ANYONE.

I was starting to freak out, and had stopped paying attention to the people around me. '_What are all these people talking about?! And who are they?!'_ I continually questioned myself, looking down at my feet to try and hide the fact that I was panicking. The more my level of terror rose, the more out of the present moment I was and as such, I only looked up when I heard someone yell "_**OI GINGER! DUCK!" **_from in front of me.

Unsurprisingly, the ginger that person had been yelling to was me, and also unsurprisingly... I didn't duck in time.

A bright red Quaffle flew straight into my forehead with astonishing speed, and as a result I landed with a firm bump on the ground. I heard the person who had been yelling at me rush towards my body, which was now sprawled across the floor. As I heard my assailant step closer – obvious worry in his voice - I prepared to release all of the panic and fear I'd been experiencing on him. I was determined; this guy was going to learn to never throw a Quaffle in a busy corridor again. But when I looked up, the tirade that had been on the tip of my tongue instantly died. I had finally found someone I actually recognized.

And it terrified me more than anything. Because the fifteen to sixteen year old boy in front of me was someone I'd never physically met before, and had only seen in photographs that my dad had been given. I knew that the boy in front of me had died about a decade before I was born. He had been murdered, by a Death Eater named Bellatrix Lestrange, in the Department of Mysteries. Which is probably why I was so bloody scared that Sirius Black had just hit me in the head with a Quaffle.

In my defence, I did tell you that things would get weird.

* * *

**And that's all folks! The next two chapters are written, and I plan to update the story every two weeks (_though we'll have to see how well that lasts. I have a habit of forgetting to write. Just keep harassing me in reviews and I'll eventually get to it.__)_**

**Thanks for reading, and please - A review really helps shape the story. I'm very curious as to what you all think.**


	2. A Day in the Life (Part Two)

**A/N: We're onto chapter two! A massive thanks to **_**TheMysteriousGeek2345, ChandlerBing12, SocietyMember, Appa-Appa-Away **_**and**_** Bookworm14**_** for reviewing Chapter One :D I greatly appreciate the effort.**

**This chapter's a little longer than the first, and as such, an even bigger thank-you must go to my Beta '_appa-appa-away_' for proofreading it all. Hope you enjoy it!  
**

* * *

"Oh my god! I'm sorry! Are you hurt?" My father's dead godfather (_Yeah... I'm pretty sure I'm insane)_ was crouched over me, concern in his eyes.

"I'm fine, I'm fine..." I attempted to assure him, keeping my voice as calm as possible, as if I wasn't meeting a dead person I'd only ever heard about.

"You don't look fine," Sirius muttered.. "What's your name? I don't think I've seen you around before?"

Pushing past the panic that was overwhelming me, I struggled to find the words to answer his question.

"Errm... my name's Lil-Luna. Luna," I replied. Using my middle name was a result of a quick bit of inspiration on my part. I knew I was named after my grandmother, who had gone to school with Sirius. It had suddenly occurred to me that using my first name could potentially be a source of suspicion. Sirius already thought I was crazy after all.

"Your name's Liluna-Luna?" asked Sirius, looking mildly puzzled.

"Luna. Just Luna. Sorry, guess the Quaffle hit me a little hard," I answered, a slight blush lighting up my cheeks. "This might sound like a strange question, but...errm... What year is it?"

"1974," said Sirius, his look of concern growing. He quickly inspected my forehead, probably looking for any permanent damage. "Are you concussed?"

"I'm fine." I replied, vehemently, trying to ignore the fact that I was somehow on the Hogwarts Express, around 33 years before I was born. "I just... couldn't remember the year is all." Just listening to myself, I realized how crazy I must have sounded to him. I attempted to gather myself up and stand straight. A look of panic spread across Sirius' features.

"You can't stand up!" He yelped. "You have a concussion!"

"I'm FINE!" I yelled. I began walking down the train corridor, desperately wanting to escape Sirius, his Quaffle, his not-deadness and the constant look of concern for my sanity. Not that I could particularly blame him for such a look, mind. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to take the hint well.

"You've clearly got a concussion," he explained, as he followed me down the train, ignoring the killer look I sent his way.

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm fine!" I muttered, before dizzily stumbling into a nearby wall. Admittedly, the Quaffle had hit me pretty hard.

Sirius snorted loudly as he witnessed my disorientation. "You really should sit down for a bit," he proclaimed, earnestly. "My compartment's only a little way-aways. Come on!" He gave me a look that told me arguing with him would be futile.

"..._I'm on the Hogwarts Express... Thirty years before I was born... A dead man thinks I'm concussed... I'm on the Hogwarts Express..." _I repeated under my breath, receiving another concerned look from Sirius, who was standing ahead of me. I was so busy panicking that my brain didn't even consider who I was likely to meet in Sirius' compartment.

"Luna! Meet James, Peter and Remus! Hogwarts' Marauders!" Sirius exclaimed as he flung the door open. A deep sinking seemed to land on my stomach, as I realized that I was in the same room as my grandfather, my dad's godfather, Teddy's dad and the reason my dad doesn't have any parents. And they were all my age. Despite the fact that they should be dead.

I nearly fainted, right then and there.

I had been panicking before, but until this point I had succeeded in maintaining a 'not entirely mad' facade. But stepping into this compartment proved too much for me. I manically dashed out of the room, desperately wishing to get out of that hell. I sprinted down the train - ignoring the yell of "**YOU HAVE A CONCUSSION!**" from behind me - before thanking every god I'd ever heard of when I discovered that the location of the toilets hadn't changed between 1974 and 2022. I burst through the open door into the ladies and pushed past the ginger girl who was washing her hands in the sinks. I flung myself into one of the empty cubicles and immediately vomited into the empty toilet bowl. Twice.

"Errm... Are you alright in there?" a voice from outside my cubicle asked.

The answer was obviously no. I couldn't even attempt to hide that there was something bothering me. Finally away from Sirius, and his whole not-being-dead thing, I had let my fear and panic envelope me. Tears were streaming down my face, and my voice was hoarse and croaky. "Not really." I admitted.

I heard a timid knocking against the door, coupled with the girl muttering, "Mind I come in?"

I didn't have the energy to protest, so I allowed this stranger to enter the dingy cubicle. I had just enough time to acknowledge that this was the ginger girl who'd been washing her hands when I stormed in and broke her peace, before she pulled me into a tight, unquestioning hug. (_It occurs to me as I'm writing that this sounds a bit creepy. I promise, it was kind of sweet in real life)_

And so I spent the next ten minutes of my life bawling my eyes out in this poor, poor girl's arms. I don't know how she managed to put up with it - it mustn't of been fun for her - but she simply let me, and for that I was grateful.

When the tears eventually slowed, and I was able to allow myself a small amount of composure, I shyly looked up at her. Blood rushing to my cheeks, I weakly managed to get out;

"Errm... Sorry you had to witness that..."

"Don't be," she replied bracingly. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay," she said, simply. I sighed in relief; I don't think my mind would've been capable of thinking up a believable story in my current state. "Err...do you want to get out of the cubicle?" she asked, the slightest hint of humour entering her tone. I blushed again, before nodding profusely.

I immediately headed towards the bathroom mirror to clean myself up, taking the opportunity to look at the girl properly. As mentioned, she had vivid, ginger hair - an even more vibrant shade than my Weasley red - and stood a little shorter than me; probably 5'3 or 5'4. Her bare skin was covered in freckles, and eyes that shone out like emeralds from her face. She was dressed simply - a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt, with no makeup in sight. While I tried to make myself resemble a banshee just a little less, she began chatting casually, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just taken place.

"I don't think I've seen you around much?" she stated. "What year are you in?"

"Fourth year," I replied, as I began washing my face in the basin.

"But I'm in fourth year!" she exclaimed in confusion. "Surely we'd have met?!"

"Ah..." I began, praying for my brain to give me an acceptable excuse. "You'd think that... but you see... I'm a... Errm... Exchange student!"

Good job brain. Thank you for working, just this once.

She turned to face me in interest. "An exchange student!? It's been ages since we've had one of them! Where from?"

I was immediately starting to warm to this idea. "America." I lied, attempting to sound convincing. "My family moved to England at the start of this year."

The girl's face lit up in interest. "Really!" she exclaimed, before barraging into more questions. "What's living in America like? What school did you go to? How come you have a British accent?"

Shoot. In retrospect, I should've known that excuse would've resulted in more questions.

"Oh y'know... America's good," I bumbled. "Very... eh... Large. Lot's of American's living there." The girl was beginning to give me a weird look. Oh, who am I kidding, she'd probably been giving me a weird look the whole time. She found me vomiting and crying in a toilet for pity's sake!

"And I have a British accent because my family's British," I continued, beginning to warm to my cover story. "We moved when I was very young, but I still picked up the accent from them."

The ginger nodded in interest. I'd finished cleaning myself up, and we were slowly edging towards the bathroom door. Just as we were reaching the exit, she suddenly stopped and faced me.

"Oh! I'm Lily by the way!" The girl thrust her hand towards me. "Sorry, forgot to introduce myself."

"Your name's Lily?" I responded in interest. "Cool, that's my nam-" The sentence stopped dead, as the sudden realization of who this girl was hit me like a ton of bricks. How had I been so oblivious?! "Lily Evans?" I asked, weakly.

"Yeah, How do you know my name?" she asked in confusion, before eying me warily. "Wait! Are you okay?! You look like you're going to-"

But before she had finished speaking, I threw up for a third time in our toilet cubicle.

* * *

"Luna!" Sirius yelled out to me from opposite the girls bathroom, relief evident in his voice. It seemed like he'd been waiting there to check I was okay. "Evans." He then addressed Lily, a note of distaste evident in his voice.

"Black," she responded shortly. "What're you doing here?"

"I was waiting for Luna." Lily turned towards me, and I shrugged in response to her gaze.

"Whatever. Errm - Luna, it was really nice meeting you, but I actually promised to meet someone. Find me at the carriages! We can ride back together!" I smiled back at her offer, wondering how she could possibly want to spend more time with a girl who'd just vomited three times in front of her. Lily shot Sirius a hard gaze.

"Black, I've got my eyes on you. I don't want to hear about you doing anything I wouldn't!" she threatened before walking away.

"Yeah, well that doesn't leave much for me to do, does it, your majesty!" Sirius muttered towards her retreating back. He then turned towards me, adopting a more pleasant expression.

"Eh, sorry about that... Me and Evans don't really get along," he admitted. "And also, y'know, sorry about throwing a Quaffle at the back of your head. Suppose I'm not doing the best job at making a decent first impression," he added, sheepishly.

Despite myself, I couldn't help but laugh. "You're forgiven." I smiled at him.

He smiled back. "So..." He began, stretching for a topic. "How come you know Evans?"

"I don't," I explained. "We met in the bathrooms, she sort of helped me out a little."

"How?"

"Errm..." I felt a blush rising to my cheek. "I was sort of throwing up. I think you might've been right when you said concussion."

The guilt had found it's way back to Sirius' face, and I could see him scanning me up and down for more visible damage "I'm really, really sorry. I promise I didn't mean to hit you, I know I should pay more attention and-"

"Sirius, It's fine," I cut off his stream of apologies. "I know you didn't mean to hit me, and it's as much my fault as yours. I should've been looking in front of me."

"I still shouldn't of-" I shot Sirius a look that finally made him change topic of conversation. "Okay, leaving it. So... d'you want to try meeting the Marauders again?"

Quite frankly, I couldn't imagine a WORSE thing to do, but Sirius was already looking so guilty for, well... assaulting me, I couldn't help but agree to his request. Besides, in my mind, I could feel a little bit of the panic that had been previously residing within me turning into excitement and interest. After all, it isn't every day a girl gets to meet her teenage grandparents, right?

And so, not two minutes later, I found myself outside the Marauder's compartment, meeting the remaining three of them for a second time. The one closest to me - James - had luxuriously stretched himself from his seat to the one opposite. Looking at him was like staring at the face of my dad in his youth. Long, unruly black hair. Large, round glasses. The only visible differences included the lack of the signature scar, and the eyes. Everyone knew that my dad had his mother's eyes.

Sitting to the left of James, with his back pressed up against the window, was Remus. He gave off an aura of good-humour, though appeared more reserved than either James or were few visual hints to his wolf-like nature, only a tinge of tiredness that seemed to wear his face, suggesting that he had seen far more of the world than any child deserved to.

Opposite Remus sat Peter Pettigrew. A name which I'd only ever heard uttered with disgust, or contempt, didn't seem to fit the small, mousy boy in front of me. I'd always imagined Wormtail to live up to his nickname, and appear as slippery and treacherous as he was made out to be. What I didn't expect was a slightly shy-looking teenage male, of perfectly average appearance.

"Padfoot, what'd you do to her?" Remus was looking warily at Sirius, his eyebrows raised.

"What makes you assume I did something to her?" Sirius asked in outrage, at the same time as I replied "Hit me in the head with a Quaffle."

"Years of experience," Remus answered, shooting Sirius a wry grin, before facing me. "I'm Remus by the way. In case Padfoot's already said anything about me, please note that about ninety-eight percent of what he says is bollocks."

"Point noted," I responded. "Nice to meet you, I'm Luna."

James was the next to introduce himself. "Sorry you had to deal with getting assaulted by Pads; there's a reason we leave the chasing to me. I'm James. Genius, prankster and lover-extraordinaire!" He shook my hand, and grinned at me. I couldn't help but grin back.

"Not to mention modest," Remus muttered from besides him.

"I'm Peter!" smiled Pettigrew, finishing off the introductions. He also took my hand. To say that it was disconcerting to realize that I was shaking hands with the man who resurrected Lord Voldemort would be an understatement.

"Okay, glad we've all introduced ourselves," Sirius smiled, pushing me out of the doorway and into a seat between him and Peter.

I was decidedly shocked by how easily I relaxed into talking with the Marauders. They were generally a pretty charismatic bunch. Sirius and James never allowed it to be too quiet for too long and all of them seemed perfectly happy to include me in their conversations. I suspect I'd have even found Peter likeable, if I hadn't known of what the future would bring for him. Once I sat down, the conversation first turned to me; who I was, what was America like, did I have any family, etc. From this exchange I discovered I was a surprisingly convincing liar, weaving stories about my 'life in the States' with ease. I was only tripped up when they asked me which school I went to. The fact that I had no clue about Wizarding America meant that I was had no idea of the names of any schools.

"Ah... see... I was actually homeschooled by my dad," I fibbed, attempting to sound believable. "He and mum were a bit concerned about what school I would go to, so they decided to keep me and my brothers at home."

Remus looked at me in surprise. "Funny... I heard that the Exeter School of Magic had a really good reputation."

I briefly wondered where the hell the Exeter School of Magic was. "Oh, yeah... it was... but it was a fair journey from our home, and mum and dad didn't want us living so far away from them."

Remus began to slowly nod in understanding. "Yeah, I suppose Alaska would be a bit of a trek - you lived in one of the southern states?"

"Eh... yeah." I responded, praying this conversation would end here. It didn't.

"How'd your dad convince the Ministry to let him homeschool you?" he asked.

"Ah, y'know... Mum and Dad had a fair number of ties in the Department of Education, so they got away with it."

Thankfully, Remus seemed to find this an appropriate answer, and the conversation moved from there...

"You support the Chudley Cannons?" James yelled at me in shock. "Do you have some kind of extreme case of masochism?"

"Hey! They're getting better." I defended. It appeared that even fifty years ago, being a Cannon's supporter was a rather depressing occupation.

"They just had their worst season in sixteen years!?" James scoffed.

"Well, y'know... they were getting better for the sixteen years before this one! Who do you support then?"

At this James blushed slightly. "Prongsy here supports the Harpies," Sirius answered for him.

"The Holyhead Harpies?" I clarified, before raising my eyebrows at James. "You know they're all girls right?"

James' blush deepened. I couldn't particularly blame him. Admitting to being a fan of the Harpies was generally seen as a rather unmasculine thing to do by the Wizarding World.

"I bought him their official bottle of perfume for Christmas," Remus joined in on the joking. "I'm pretty sure he tried it on too; the whole room reeked of the stuff the next day."

"We keep trying to tell him that he won't be able to join them when he leaves Hogwarts. I think it's his biggest regret," added Sirius.

"For all of your information, the Holyhead Harpies are a talented, sexy group of Quidditch players, who fully deserve my support. And I happen to find that perfume incredibly attractive on a girl who wears it." James stated, stamping his foot at the same time.

"Very manly," Peter remarked.

"Now Peter, be nice. It's well within James' right to support an all-girls team," Remus responded, with mock-sincerity.

"THANK-YOU Remus." James sighed.

"You're welcome James. Just know that as your friends, we're here to support you in this time of discovering your sexuality."

"I'm not exploring my sexuality!" James ranted, his hand instantly raking through his hair, while the rest of us collapsed into laughter. "I'm supporting a Quidditch team!"

"Do you ever feel embarrassed going to their matches?" I teased him. "Y'know - considering how you're the only male in the crowd?"

"Do you ever feel embarrassed going to the Cannons matches?" He replied. "Y'know - considering how you're the only one supporting them?"

I couldn't help but grin. "Touche, Mr. Potter." I smiled.

The conversation about Quidditch lasted throughout the next hour. Following that, we played through a game of exploding snap, ("I don't think my eyebrows will ever grow back," remarked Peter) talked about Sirius' unpleasant summer dealing with his parents and brother, and even discussed some of the pranks that the Marauders were planning to pull when they got back to school ("Repeat any of this, and we will have to turn your skin green. Sorry," James informed me).

And as the conversation continued, and the train journeyed towards Hogwarts, I begin to steadily forget about the predicament I was in, forget about the fact that the people I were talking to were - in fact - all deceased, and just enjoy talking to them. There was just something about the four of them... they were all so carefree, so unequivocally happy, that it seemed as if all of the panic and fear I had been previously experiencing was just washed away. Until, that is, Remus reported that the train was approaching Hogwarts. I stepped outside the compartment to allow the four of them to get changed - I was already in robes, thank god - before the five of us headed down the train, and onto the platform at Hogsmeade.

"Luna! Luna! Over here!" Lily was yelling to me at the top of her lungs, waving frantically to get my attention. After briefly saying goodbye to the marauders, I pushed my way over to her.

"C'mon, let's find a carriage," she said over the noise of the station.

We did just that, finding a comfortable carriage just for ourselves. "Nervous?" Lily asked, indicating towards the castle. "I remember the first day I arrived here, I was a terrified wreck." She giggled. "We had to cross the lake as first years. I was so frightened. Kept thinking I was going to fall in. Pettigrew actually did. Capsized his and Black's boat. The two of them arrived at school soaked to their skin." I found myself giggling with her. I got the sense that she had detected my nerves and was trying to make me feel better, and I had to give it to her; the tactic was working.

I was still pretty worried about arriving at the school though. I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. Would they sort me? Would I be sent home? Would they demand to see my parents, who weren't due to be born for another seven to eight years?

"So basically..." Lily was saying, "As far as entrances go, you really can't do worse than Pettigrew." I grinned at her, before I felt the carriage grind to a stop. We were at the doors to the castle. My stomach was churning with a sickening sense of fear. I was rooted to the spot.

"Luna?! What're you waiting for?"

Lily was halfway out of the carriage, waiting for me. I was frozen to my seat, with the fears that were running through my head becoming more and more exaggerated by the moment. The school would obviously recognize that I didn't belong! They'd report me to the ministry! The ministry would find out who I was, a 14 year old girl from 2022! They'd lock me up in the Department of Mysteries! Ship me off to St. Mungo's for experiments! Or turn me into a time-travelling freak show!

I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. Lily was standing in front of me, clearly mistaking my fearing for my sanity and future as simply the nerves of attending a new school.

"I know you must be scared," she was saying. "New school, new country... weird ginger girls talking to you in toilets and strange guys aiming Quaffle's at your skull. But I promise; you'll fit in here. I promise."

Regardless of the fact that she clearly didn't understand the situation I was in, I couldn't help but feel a little comfort from Lily's words. With a deep sigh, I rose to my feet, and followed Lily out into the courtyard.

* * *

"Who in the blazes are you!" A tall, stern looking woman in emerald-green robes stood in front of me; someone I recognized from my own time. Minerva McGonagall. The expression she was wearing made me want to crawl back into the carriage and hide from sight. I had only met her a couple of times, usually when she had arrived at my house to visit dad, who I knew she was close to. She had a reputation of being a rather severe individual, though dad swore she was 'just a big softie when you got to know her.' Looking at her right now, I found that claim very difficult to believe. And of course, the woman in front of me had never met me. Or met my dad. I would appear a complete stranger. Which is probably why she was staring at me in confusion. I'd never felt so intimidated in my life.

"Ah... My name's Luna and... errm... I'm an exchange student... Can I... see the headmaster, please?" I stammered.

McGonagall looked at me over her glasses, fixing me with an intelligent stare.

"Albus never mentioned a new student..." she mused. "Still, seems like the best place for you to go. I will take you to his office for the time being, I'm afraid you will have to wait until the start-of-term-feast has concluded until he can speak with you.

I silently nodded. The professor immediately began walking towards the Headmasters office in long, swift strides. Lily shot me a hopeful smile and mouthed "_Good luck_!" before I sped up to keep pace with McGonagall.

It appeared that Hogwarts was a rather timeless castle, as its layout appeared much the same as it did in 2022. The only notable differences I could spot would be that the Hourglasses which displayed the house points were positioned atop the Grand Staircase, as opposed to outside the main entranceway, and also the memorial for students who had died during the Battle of Hogwarts obviously hadn't been constructed yet. Otherwise, it was the same Hogwarts that I knew and loved.

Before long, I had reached the intimidating stone Gargoyle that led to the Headmaster's office. After muttering the password (I don't think I want to know what a 'cockroach cluster' is,) the familiar spiral staircase appeared, and the Transfiguration Professor led me down into the grand office.

Pointing her wand towards the table, she cast a non-verbal spell, resulting in a large plate of sandwiches appearing. "These are for you to eat until the Headmaster arrives. I am afraid that my presence is required at the feast, so I will not be able to supervise you." She cast me a severely withering glance. "Don't break anything." And with that, she left the office, leaving me to my own devices.

I immediately gravitated towards the plate of food. I hadn't eaten anything on the train and I could feel myself getting hungry. Once I had finished munching on four or five sandwiches, I took a look around the room. My overall conclusion, Albus Dumbledore - recognized for his legendary defeat of the dark wizard Grindlewald and considered the greatest wizard of his time - was one hell of a hoarder.

Like seriously, who has any need for all this crap?! I mean, I'm sure that they all serve very useful, impressive purposes, but surely he doesn't need ALL of them in his office. I could hardly walk through the room without tripping on various gadgets, books or (oddly enough) random pairs of socks. Seriously - he might be an impressive wizard, but I'm pretty sure my Mum'd have a heart attack if she saw this room. This guy seriously needed a basement. Or better yet, he needed to sell some of his stuff. Has he ever heard of a garage sale?

I was just exploring a strange glass orb, which seemed to fog up the closer I got to it, when I heard a slight cough from behind me. I spun around to see a bespectacled old man standing in the entranceway to the office. He had piercing blue eyes, and a long, bushy white beard that tucked into his belt. It took a moment to recognize that I stood in front of the legend himself.

"When Professor McGonagall came into the Great Hall and informed me that there was a young girl waiting in my office - claiming to be an exchange student from America - I have to admit I was rather surprised." Dumbledore began. "Mostly, because as the Headmaster, I do tend to hear about any new students attending my school, and I'm afraid I haven't heard anything about you. This leads me to believe that you are not, in fact, a new exchange student. Am I correct in presuming this?"

He said it so calmly, as if finding a random ginger girl in his office was a normal occurrence. "Ermm... Yes sir," I replied, my eyes towards the floor.

"Then, with all respect, may I ask who you are, and why you currently find yourself in my office?" He asked, politely.

"My real name is Lily Luna Potter, sir," I answered. "And I'm not certain I can answer your second question."

"And why would that be?"

"I'm not sure you'd believe me, Professor."

Dumbledore looked piercingly at me through his half-moon glasses. I felt as if his sharp blue eyes could stare into my soul. For some, inexplicable reason, I was suddenly tempted to tell him the absolute truth.

"You will find I am capable of believing a good many things, Ms. Potter, should you bring yourself to trust me."

I took a deep breath.

"I'm a time-traveller from the year 2022, and I have absolutely no idea how I arrived on the Hogwarts Express!" I blurted out.

Dumbledore looked at me, his face a mask of patience, showing no surprise, or fear, or disbelief. He seemed to take a few moments to digest this information before speaking.

"I admit, that was not necessarily what I expected. However, I do - in fact - believe you," he said, with the same gentle tone as before. "If you'll forgive me, I'd appreciate hearing your tale from the beginning please."

And so I told him my entire story, beginning with arriving on the train, then bumping into Sirius, then Lily, and then eventually arriving at the school. He didn't attempt to interrupt me as I explained my situation, and he only spoke up once I'd finished my story.

"So you are telling me that you fell asleep a night ago, only to wake up in the past, and as a result met your grandparents and their friends?" he clarified. He had now begun pacing the room.

I nodded in response. It only seemed crazier when someone else said it.

"Hmmm... This is a very troubling matter," the Headmaster said, looking at me in concern. "And you are sure you have absolutely no idea what could've caused this event. No clue whatsoever?"

"I have no clue, Professor."

The elderly man looked at me in concern. "There are clearly forces at work here that neither of us can fully understand yet... forces completely out of our control. The amount of magical power that would be required to send you this far back in time is insurmountable."

He continued to stride up and down the room, before stopping and facing me.

"I do not think it is a coincidence that you have arrived here, in the exact time your grandparents were present at the school. That being said, I feel it is necessary to allow events to run their course. I shall inform the staff that you are, as you have claimed, an American exchange student, and allow you to study here. You will be sorted into Gryffindor, to allow you the opportunity to meet your grandparents and their friends, and hopefully figure out exactly what has caused you to come to this time period. The current password to the common room is Hollyhop, and there is a vacant bed in the fourth-year girls dormitory for you to occupy. I feel you were wise to choose to go by your middle name, the fewer who know or have suspicions about your time-travelling nature, the better."

I nodded to show my understanding. Dumbledore's voice instantly became graver.

"Before I allow you to leave my office, however, I wish to impress the dangers that travelling in time can pose, and the rules you will need to follow in order to guarantee your safety.

"Firstly, I must impress upon you, do not attempt to significantly alter past events. From what we know of through the limited use of time turners, it is known that the universe is able to cope with small changes to history. However, a major change as a result of altering the timeline could result in cataclysmic destruction. Along with inadvertently changing the future in ways you cannot understand, you also run the risk of triggering an event known as a paradox, which is when a timeline enters an infinite loop and as such, causes colossal damage to history as we know it. You can observe, but you must never, ever get involved. Believe me when I say that while it may not seem it at the time, it will be significantly better for humanity in general if you do not interfere."

Dumbledore's words of cataclysmic destruction made me feel sick with fear. Somehow, I managed to choke out; "I understand, Professor."

He looked at me with a strange expression of both pity and regret.

"I fear the strains of time-travel will be most heavy on you. I recognize that it must seem intimidating right now, but try not to forget that you are being given an unbelievable opportunity. Hopefully you will be able to make some good out of it."

As he beckoned me out of the room, he gave me one last warning.

"Remember, do not interfere. And do not alert or warn anyone of future events. You must allow things to play out as they previously happened, with minimal interference. It has been a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Potter."

And with that, I found myself taking the spiral staircase back to the third floor, trying to wrap my head around the conversation that had just taken place.

After I found my way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, climbed my way up to the Girls Dormitory, and collapsed onto the only empty four-poster bed, I prayed that I would wake up to find myself back in the present.

Never in my life had I felt so far away from home.

* * *

**A/N: And that's chapter two! I'm sticking with a schedule for uploading chapters, so Chapter 3 should come out in exactly two weeks time :D**

**As always, reviews and favourites are greatly appreciated!**


	3. I'm Going Slightly Mad

**A/N: We've gotten to chapter three! Huzzah!**

**So, this chapter (along with the next) are a little more filler-y than I'd like to write. Sorry, there'll be plenty of plot coming soon, but I wanted to spend a couple of chapters just with Luna getting to know the Marauders and Lily.**

**As always, a big thanks to **_**Appa-Appa-Away**_**, my ridiculously hard working Beta, along with everyone who reviewed, namely; **_**Bookworm14, TheStarGazer7, Appa-Appa-Away and KittyHawk09.**_

**Hope you all like the chapter!**

* * *

_This letter is for the eyes of Luna Weasley __**only**__. _

_As mentioned on the front of the envelope, the contents of this letter are confidential, and should be read by Ms. Weasley alone. If you are not Ms. Weasley, I would strongly advise you stop reading now, as continuing to do so will in all likelihood result in your expulsion..._

_On that note... Good morning Ms. Weasley. To begin with, I would like to inform you that the headmaster has explained to me the nature of the predicament you find yourself in. I hope you do not find this too objectionable. I assure you that your secret is safe with me._

_This letter is to inform you of a number of crucial details in regards to the practicalities of you living within this castle during this time period. Firstly, it has occurred to the Headmaster that you are currently without any stationery or clothing. As such, I have managed to procure all of the supplies I feel you are likely to need while residing at Hogwarts. Additionally, I travelled to Muggle London and have purchased some clothes for you to wear during leisure hours, along with the school uniform. I hope you find all of this satisfactory. If there is any equipment or clothing you feel you require, please do not hesitate to inform me after class._

_Which brings me to my next item of interest; your timetable. Professor Dumbledore has recommended a list of subjects for you to take (based on the current classes that Ms. Evans and Mr. Potter currently sit). The subjects he has recommended are Transfiguration, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, Charms, Muggle Studies and Arithmancy. He did also suggest Divination, however I feel that your current situation would give you a rather unfair advantage against other students, don't you think? I will deliver your timetable personally during your second class, considering it will be my own. In the meantime, you will have a double-period of Potions first with Professor Slughorn. I suggest following Ms. Evans through most of the day; you share most of your subjects with her._

_You may have noticed that this letter is addressed to Luna Weasley, which is the name you will take during your time here. Both myself and the headmaster agree that the names Lily and Potter will stand out, and naturally raise suspicion amongst other students. I commend you for your quick thinking in using your middle name. _

_The headmaster wishes to remind you to keep a low profile and that under no circumstances should you attempt to alter the future in any way. He also asks that you meet him in his office at eight o'clock this evening, to discuss your situation and your day in general. _

_I hope you have a pleasant day and I look forward to teaching you._

_Sincerely, _

_Professor McGonagall._

_P.S. You would be advised to destroy this letter after reading it thoroughly._

* * *

That was what I woke to when - mostly through Lily's encouragement - I emerged from my bed this morning. To say that reading through it gave me a headache would be an understatement.

"The morning is evil." I groaned, as I pocketed the parchment and stretched, sighing slightly as each of my joints clicked.

"That bad huh?" asked Lily, sitting on the opposite end of the dormitory.

"You have no idea," I muttered. Lily laughed and rolled her eyes before she headed into the showers, whistling cheerfully.

My watch - which somehow still displayed the correct time, despite being 50 years in the past - informed me that it was currently 6:24. Or as I called it: 'too bloody early.' Thin beams of light were entering the dormitory, illuminating the faces of my dorm-mates. In the bed to the right of me lay Alice Prewitt, who - if my memory serves me correctly - was Professor Longbottom's mum. This time travel stuff was starting to give me a headache. Next to Alice was a pretty brown-haired girl named - according to Lily - Mary McDonald. Apparently, there was also a girl named Marlene McKinnon in the dormitory, but she had already gone down to breakfast.

Around ten minutes later, Lily had finished showering and strolled out of the bathroom.

"So!" she said, turning to face me. "Excited for your first day of Hogwarts?"

"Depends," I deadpanned. "How much coffee is there in this castle?"

"Oh, you aren't still tired, are you?" Lily asked, shaking her head. I gave her a look that showed her that, yes, I was still tired.

"Well, you'll have to wake up!" she informed me, as we started heading down the stairs towards the common room. "It's time for you to have a bit of a tour of the castle. Hogwarts is pretty big, see, and I figured you'd want a chance to take a look round. So you don't get lost or anything-"

"-Evans, you can leave it there. The professionals have arrived." Standing in front of us was Sirius, smirking at me. James stood behind him, wearing a matching grin.

"No-one knows Hogwarts like a Marauder," he informed me with a wink. "And we'd be happy to give you a tour. I promise it'll be cooler than anything Evans would show you. She probably doesn't even know where the kitchens are."

Lily's previously sunny disposition quickly disappeared. "Bugger off Potter, I know where the kitchens are just as well as you do. I just don't brag about it to everyone I see," she retorted, sharply.

"It's lovely to see you as well, Red." Sirius joked. "But seriously, we just want to guarantee that Luna here is getting the best tour possible, and everyone knows that me and James are kind of the experts when it comes to the castle. So just hurry along down to breakfast." He dismissed her, pointedly. I could see that Lily was about to explode at Sirius, so I quickly butted in.

"Or..." I began. "We could all go on a tour _together_, as opposed to spending the next twenty minutes arguing about it."

* * *

_One Hour, and Twenty-Seven Minutes Later..._

"Ok, where the bloody hell are we?" Sirius complained, for quite possibly the twelfth time.

We had found ourselves wandering down a long, windowless corridor. No students were present, giving us a feeling of insurmountable desolation. I sighed deeply, before shooting Sirius a look of irritation.

"I dunno, maybe we should ask the 'experts of the castle.'"

"Who's that then?" Sirius asked, causing the rest of us (James included) to groan. Lily went to the extreme of banging her head against a nearby wall.

"Ok Pads... let's think this through," James muttered. "Where d'you think we first got lost."

Sirius thought about it for a couple of moments. "Probably just past the painting of Dudley the Demented," he decided.

"Right..." agreed James. "So where'd we go after that? I remember heading through a red curtain, and into the rotating staircase that leads to the third floor."

I looked at him, puzzled. "So why can't we use that to get back to the main hall?" I asked.

"It's called a rotating staircase for a reason. The entrance revolves each time you use it."

Well aware of the rather temperamental nature of Hogwarts' staircases at this point, I didn't bother to question him further. He turned back to face Sirius.

"Okay, and from there, we ended up at that passage that leads down to the library," James continued. "Then what?"

"You fell into that trap door, remember?" Sirius said.

"That's right!" Lily butted in. "I never knew that Potter's voice went that high. Not -" at this point, she was pointedly staring at James' torso "- that it surprised me."

Sirius and I both sniggered while James turned a deep red. "If you're free for a date tonight Evans, I'd be happy to prove you wrong," he flirted.

Lily looked at him in disgust. "Only in your dreams Potter!"

James smirked. "And what... vivid... dreams they will be, too..." he replied, with a wink.

Both Lily and I immediately shuddered. Lily stormed ahead of the rest of us, unmistakably attempting to get away from James.

"You've got to stop using lines like that on Evans, Prongs," Sirius was warning him. "They might work on most girls, but I think we've recognized by now that they're pretty much Lily-proof."

"Hold on, wait," I interrupted. "Those lines work on girls?"

"How do you think we're Hogwarts' most eligible bachelors?" Sirius teased. "Tons of girls just lap comments like that up..."

"When you say '_tons of girls,'_ you mean _'teenage sluts'_, don't you?" I deadpanned.

"Eh," shrugged Sirius, neither confirming nor denying my statement. But, believing this to be a satisfactory response, he turned back to James.

"Okay, back to trying to find our way to the Great Hall. So, you fell in the trap door, and we followed. Then we headed down a flight of stairs, turned a right, headed up two flights of stairs and walked past the little alcove where the Fat Friar was practicing his falsetto for the Ghost choir."

"Then we pulled down a torch to open up that secret passage behind the picture of that stumpy witch picking her toenails," James continued. "We went through the secret passage and down the slide at the end of the tunnel, only instead of ending up outside Flitwick's office, we ended up somewhere deeper underground. Then we wandered past a picture of someone called Ovart, who had a head like a slightly dismorphed orange-"

"Did you say Ovart?" I interrupted. James looked at me in surprise, before nodding slightly.

"I know where we are!" I announced, nearly squealing in excitement. I led the lot of us back to the picture of Ovart the Extrovert, before taking about ten paces forward, and kicking the right wall, firmly. With a tired shudder, a small portion of the wall shifted to the right, leaving a dimly lit flight of stairs in it's place.

"Those stairs'll lead us straight underneath the Great Hall!" I announced, proudly. "Right next to the Potions classroom." I turned to see both Sirius, James and Lily all looking at me with matching expressions of shock.

"How the hell did you know that was there?" asked a very confused-looking James.

Shit, right. I was supposed to be the new exchange student, wasn't I?

"Errm..." I stumbled. "McGonagall showed me it yesterday..." I lied. "We took this route to get to Dumbledore's office."

James still looked confused. "Why'd she lead you through the dungeons?" he asked.

"Oh... Well... The Great Hall was busy, so she decided to take the extended route."

Without leaving him anymore room for questioning - I stepped into the tunnel, beckoning for the rest of them to follow. When we reached the top of the staircase, Sirius ordered me to a halt.

"Luna!" he exclaimed, causing me to turn around to face him. Out of his pocket, he brought out a blood red pen-knife and passed it to me. "It's a Marauder tradition to carve our names into any new secret passageway we find," he informed me and Lily. "Obviously, Luna isn't a Marauder, but I think she should get to mark losing her secret passage virginity. It's a very important occasion. You agree, Prongs?"

With a grin, James nodded his head. "Try to think of something original," he warned me.

Taking the knife, I began to scratch marks into the wooden rim of the passageway entrance. The scratches simply read:

"_LUNA WAS HERE"_

James shot me a wry grin. "I thought I said original?" he teased. Before I could defend myself, Sirius butted in.

"Shove off James... If we're judging for originality, I'm pretty sure that your first graffiti was the word _pen_ followed by the number _15_."

James shoved his friend, before taking the knife himself.

"_AS WAS THE MIGHTY PRONGS"_

He then attempted to pass it to Lily, who vehemently protested the 'vandalism of school property.' Undeterred, he passed the knife to Sirius, who added;

"_PEN-15"_

I rolled my eyes and smiled at the two of them, before eventually following Lily out of the passage, past the potions classroom and into the Great Hall, where Sirius and James both said goodbye, moving to sit next to Remus, Peter and the fifth member of their dormitory; some bloke called Adam.

"Make sure you come sit next to us in Transfiguration!" Sirius told me. "We'll save you a seat near the back!" With that, he gave me a mock salute, before following his friends, while I headed back to sit down with Lily. The moment I took a seat, however, she immediately jumped up and took my hand, leading me to the opposite side of the Great Hall.

"Luna! There's someone I want you to meet!"

She immediately pushed me towards a tall, greasy-haired kid, around my age, with a distinctively long hooked nose. His robes were emblazoned with Slytherin green and he wore an expression of casual disinterest, like the last thing he wanted to do was meet some new member of Gryffindor. Which - admittedly - was probably true. His eyes were black and cold, and he looked at me with thinly-veiled contempt.

"Luna Weasley... meet Severus Snape."

"Nice to meet you," I muttered.

"A pleasure..." he sneered back.

I'd heard tales of Severus Snape since I was a little girl and it was hard to believe that this sneering Slytherin was the same man that my father had described to me. Every time his name was spoken, my dad described Snape as '_the bravest man he'd ever known'_ who had apparently spent his entire adult life looking out for Dad as he grew up. Dad, Mum and Aunt Hermione all hailed him as a hero, with only Uncle Ron claiming that '_while he might've been good in the end... you can't deny he was a slimy git,'_ to which Hermione quickly shushed him.

I'd never had cause to doubt my Dad's judgement before, but on this one, I was siding with Uncle Ron.

"Sev, we talked about this..." Lily muttered to her friend, in a sharp tone. Snape looked at her - with an almost pleading expression - before turning back to face me. He was clearly attempting as much politeness as was possible.

"So..." he stumbled awkwardly. "Lily tells me you're an exchange student."

"Yes," I replied with equal discomfort. "From America."

"That's... interesting... I suppose."

"It's a nice country. I like Britain though."

"Britain's nice. Wet."

"Yeah."

A long period of silence followed, until I coughed, with mild embarrassment.

"Well, it was nice to meet you Severus, but I suppose I'd better be getting back to the Gryffindor table, still haven't had any breakfast," I laughed, falsely. "Coming, Lily?"

Snape looked just as relieved that the conversation was ending as I was. Lily turned to say goodbye to him, before we both headed back to eat. As I loaded up my plate, she asked; "How'd you find Sev?"

"Oh, you know, he seemed nice," I replied, loftily. "Very... errm... intelligent."

"You hated him, didn't you?"

"I wouldn't say '_hated him...'_"

"_Luna._"

"Okay yeah, I didn't like him very much."

Lily sighed, deeply. "I'm not surprised. None of my other friends like him either. He's always very uncomfortably around people he doesn't know... especially girls."

I nodded in understanding.

"He used to be better. When I first met him, he was kind... and sweet... but since about third year, he's become a lot more aggressive. I think it's partly James and Sirius. They antagonize him a fair bit."

I looked at her in interest. "So that's why you hate them so much!?" I asked.

"I wouldn't say I hate them. But, yeah, that's one of the reasons we aren't exactly the best of friends."

I filed this bit of information in the back of my brain to process later. In the meantime, we had both finished our meals, and Lily was standing up to head to her Potions lesson. Stretching, I followed her out of the Great Hall.

* * *

"_NICE TO MEET YOU, MS. ERRM... WEASLEY, WAS IT? WELCOME TO POTIONS!"_

Slughorn was addressing me in his booming, cheery voice and I couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable with the man looming over me in what I'm sure he felt was a friendly, comfortable manner.

I was sat at a table with Lily, in front of Remus and a boy who introduced himself as Reginald Cattermole ("_Call me Reg. Or Cat. Or Mole. Or just about anything but Reginald." _) Directly in front of me sat Alice and Marlene, both of whom introduced themselves briefly as I came in. Snape sat alone at back of the classroom, causing Lily to guiltily turn around every couple of minutes. Before long, the bell had rung, and Slughorn had taken his place at the front of the room.

"Welcome, all of you, to Fourth Year potions. I see one or two new faces in the classroom (_at this comment, he stared directly at me_) but overall you look like mostly the same bunch as I taught last year. Which is marvellous, considering what a group of hardworking, respectful and responsible young students you all are-"

Slughorn was interrupted by a loud slam of the door.

"Apologies Professor!" Sirius cheerfully exclaimed as he casually strolled into the classroom, a wide grin on his face. "Was a bit late getting to the Great Hall, and you know how a growing boy needs his breakfast."

The class watched in interest as the Potions Master's previous enthusiasm slowly fell from his face. With a sigh; "And why were you late arriving at the Great Hall, Mr. Black?" he asked, with exaggerated patience.

"Well you see, sir, as a kind and respectable gentleman like yourself, I was simply giving our newest arrival a tour of our great school." At this point he shot me a grin and a wink, before suggestively adding; "And I'm afraid we got a little..." There was a clear smirk on his face. "...Distracted, if you know what I mean."

Hold on, wait! Was he implying what I thought he was implying?!

"By which I mean, James fell into an open trapdoor," he amended sheepishly, after I had shot him one of my most threatening glares.

He continued to walk towards the front of the classroom, briefly stopping at Remus' table (_"Remus! How could you leave me! For Regie, no less!"_)

Finally, Slughorn had had enough. "Mr Black, I think that is quite enough attention for this morning. Ten points from Gryffindor. If you are in need of a seat, I believe there are empty ones next to Mr. Snape and Ms. MacDonald."

Eying the seat next to Snape with great distrust, Sirius proceeded to take his seat next to Mary, and the class finally began.

"After that disruption, I believe it is time for us to move onto the art of potion-brewing. If you would all turn your textbooks to page 417, you will find the instructions for todays potion."

We were instructed to spend the next ninety minutes producing an ageing potion, and as such, Lily and I began the lesson by dividing the various tasks between ourselves and collecting ingredients from the storeroom at the back of the class. As I began carefully skinning a dung beetle, Lily began to idly chat.

"What's your favourite animal?" she asked from out of nowhere. Giving her an odd look, I responded; "A fox, why?"

"No reason, just passing the time. You ask me a question."

Looking away from the dung beetle for a moment, I thought briefly.

"What is your... errm... First childhood memory?"

Lily briefly mused on the question. "Probably setting our christmas tree on fire when I was four."

I snorted. "How'd you do that?"

"I don't know, really. Accidental magic, I'm assuming. Dad managed to put it out before it got out of hand. How about you?"

"Probably my older brother pushing me into a lake when I was three. My only comfort was that my oldest brother pushed him in with me. We didn't talk for about a week."

Lily giggled. "Okay, errm... favourite food?"

"Pizza. With Pepperoni and Mushrooms. You?"

"Chocolate Pudding. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water."

"Favourite band?"

"Well, I'm muggleborn, so I'm really into muggle music. Right now, I'm obsessed with Queen."

"Good choice. Though personally, I'm kind of a Beatles girl."

"Nuh-uh. John Lennon has NOTHING on Freddie Mercury."

"Queen has one good band member. The Beatles have four."

"Excuse me, but Brian May is one of Britains best guitarists!"

I couldn't help but smile at her outrage. "Okay, okay, I'm leaving it. Quidditch team?"

"Don't have one."

"You don't have a Quidditch team!?"

"I never could grasp my mind around the sport..."

And the conversation continued in this way for the next ten minutes. From it, I learned that my Grandmother had an irrational fear of heights, (_"In my defence, it's not really the heights that scare me, so much as it is the falling to my death."_) was addicted to honeydukes chocolate, and wanted to be a reporter in the Daily Prophet when she left school. In turn, she found out that my favourite colour was brown, that my favourite possession was my record player - it's actually my iPod, but I assumed it hadn't been invented yet - and that my favourite book was The Hobbit.

In fact, I was happily detailing why the adventures of Bilbo Baggins made The Hobbit the best book ever written when I was interrupted by a voice from directly behind me.

"Favourite ice cream flavour?"

Both myself and Lily turned around to face Reginald Cattermole, who blushed slightly at the sudden attention. To be totally honest, I'd actually forgotten that there were other occupants of the room, I'd been so focused on my conversation with Lily.

After a brief moment, I replied; "Mint Chocolate Chip. What about you, Nald'?"

Cattermole looked at me in amusement. "Nald'? You're seriously going to call me Nald'?"

I grinned. "Perhaps not, Kitty." (This nickname appeared to amuse him even more)

"Well, I suppose Kitty's marginally better," he smirked. "I'd probably have to say caramel. Lily?"

"Vanilla. I'm a simple girl. Remus?"

Momentarily surprised to be involved in the conversation, Lupin paused before responding. "Ah... Probably Chocolate. Okay, least favourite food?"

"Carrots, easily."

"Lily, you're ginger! You can't hate carrots!"

And so the conversation continued, until eventually...

"No, I'm sorry," snapped Marlene. "But I refuse to believe that anyone in their right mind could think that the Wimbourne Wasps have a better chance of winning the Quidditch League than Puddlemere United."

"Marlene, are you mad!" exclaimed Remus. "The Wasps have won nearly every match this season. Puddlemere have won, like, three!"

"Well, personally, I think this year'll be the rise of the Cannons," I claimed.

The group snorted.

"You're insane Luna," Alice grinned. "Favourite place to go in Hogsmeade?"

But before I was able to tell them how much I loved visiting the Hogs Head, Lily interrupted.

"Guys... You realize we have five minutes to finish our potions right?"

"Shit!" swore Reginald. I looked down at my cauldron, to observe that our potion was maybe a quarter done, at the most.

Eh... whoops.

* * *

"You got a detention in your first lesson!" James was marvelling. "And you managed to get Remus and Lily detentions too?!" He turned to face Sirius. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear she's becoming the new us."

"Sod off, you two," I grumbled, though a light smile was still playing around on my face.

We were all sitting in McGonagall's Transfiguration classroom. When I'd arrived, Sirius had invited me to take a seat next to him, in front of Remus and James. I'd happily obliged, while Lily moved to her regular seat next to Alice.

We'd been instructed to spend the lesson transfiguring a quill into a pineapple. James had completed this task with apparent ease, however the rest of the class were having more difficulty. Remus' pineapple was sprouting feathers and when cut open, Sirius' excreted ink, as opposed to pineapple juice. I was in an even worse state. No matter how many times I tried, my quill remained just that... a quill.

"Your stance is wrong," James informed me. He'd moved from his desk next to Remus to give me a hand. "You need to stand flat footed and when you cast the spell, whip your wand from across your wrist to straight in front of you. Gives the incantation more power."

I followed his instructions, and cast the spell, with mild success. In place of a quill, I had produced a tiny pineapple, around the size of a peach. James looked at my peach-pineapple hybrid in interest. "Well, it's a start," he mused. "Plus I'm pretty sure you just invented a new type of fruit."

"Cheers, James," I chuckled lightly, before we were interrupted by a loud scream of disgust from the other side of the room. A black-haired Slytherin girl had bitten into her pineapple, only to discover the inside was mostly ink. Remus, James and I all turned to look accusingly at Sirius.

"What?" he asked, in a tone of exaggerated innocence.

Remus rolled his eyes while James smirked. "And that," he warned me. "Is why you should never accept any food from Padfoot."

I spent the rest of the lesson attempting to transfigure my pineapple the right size, something I didn't fully achieve until the closing five minutes, thanks mainly to a little help from James. In the meantime, I was introduced to how the Marauders passed the time.

"Okay, I'm officially bored," announced Sirius. "Anyone want to play a game of Jyngo?"

"I'm up for it," said James, while Remus stated that he would keep score. I turned to the three of them.

"What in Merlin's name is Jyngo?" I asked.

"Moony'll explain the rules," Sirius told me. "It's pretty easy to pick up, just watch me and James."

Remus instantly began speaking to me in a hushed undertone. "Jyngo is one of the games Sirius and James invented back in second year to stop themselves from actually having to do work in class. (_Oh, come off it Padfoot, you know it's true._) Basically, you have to cast jinxes on other people in the class without being noticed. You score points for the creativity of your jinx, how close the person you jinxed is to McGonagall and how funny the spell is. You go out if McGonagall catches you. The last man standing gets an extra fifty points."

"But won't we get in trouble if we're caught..." I began, before I was interrupted by Sirius.

"You'll get a detention at worst," he informed me. "Besides, we aren't aiming to hurt anyone, just cause as much chaos as possible. You in?"

I thought about it, before deciding on a '_when in Rome_' kind of attitude, and nodded. Sirius grinned. "Excellent. James, your turn first!"

Pretending to be looking in his textbook, James subtly pointed his wand towards Lily's table and muttered a couple of words under his breath. Alice's pineapple immediately exploded, covering the front half of the class - including myself and Sirius - in Pineapple juice. Remus snorted in amusement, while I attempted to get the sticky fluid off me, shooting James a very dirty look in the process.

"25 points to Prongs," announced Remus. "Sirius, you're up."

Pretending to reach down to the floor to pick up his wand, Sirius sent a quick curse towards a Slytherin boy - who was apparently called Avery - near the front of the class. His robes instantly turned a vibrant shade of pink.

"Original," Remus wryly remarked. "Alright, 15 points to Padfoot. Luna, any time you like."

"My uncle taught me this one," I informed the Marauders. "It was kind of his speciality."

Under my desk, I pointed the tip of my wand towards a cluster of Hufflepuff's in the front right corner of the classroom. I then tilted it slightly down, so it was level with their feet.

"_Stagnum Prodio!" _I whispered, before pocketing my wand and attempting to appear as nonchalant as possible. Half a minute later, and a loud yelp came from the Hufflepuff's corner of the classroom. One of the students had looked down at his feet to notice that his desk and chair were beginning to slowly sink into a dirty swamp that had appeared underneath his table. A flurry of activity occurred, with the lot of them attempting to climb onto their desks and make the jump into the centre of the classroom for 'dry ground.' One Hufflepuff hadn't quite made the jump, and was up to his waist in swamp. He seemed more amused than irritated.

"Scourgify!" McGonagall called as he was lifted out of the marsh. She then proceeded to sweep the room with her beady eyes, coming to a rest at the Marauders.

"I can't be certain who is causing these distractions," warned the strict Professor. "But I urge the culprits to stop immediately, before they're caught and punished."

"We aren't going to stop, are we?" I whispered to Sirius.

"Course' not!" he scoffed. "Moony, how'd the newbie do, d'you think?"

"Luna scores 28 points." He announced in a whisper, "And it's James' turn."

The lesson continued in this manner, until Sirius was eventually caught trying to curse Snape's book into following him around the room and biting his ankles every time. This left just me and James trying to hide our spell-casting; something that became increasingly more difficult with McGonagall so alert. I was almost caught after bewitching Reginald to sing everything he said, but eventually it was James who received a detention, after failing to levitate Lily's chair onto McGonagall's desk.

"And there was me thinking you had to be talented to be a Marauder..." I teased, after Remus declared me the winner.

"Careful Weasley... You'll wake up in the middle of the Black Lake if you keep saying things like that," threatened Sirius.

I sent him a cheeky grin, before quickening my pace to catch up with Lily, who was a little ahead of me. She smiled at me, before her expression turned serious.

"I can't believe you turned half of our transfiguration classroom into a swamp!" she sighed.

"It was not half!" I chided. "And how do you know it was me!"

"I can recognize Potter and Black's handiwork," she explained. "That wasn't it."

"Are you going to tell me off...?"

"I should... but... Oh hell, it was hilarious!"

"Nice to be appreciated!" I beamed, before linking arms with Lily and following her into the Great Hall.

The rest of the day passed in a similar vein. I would follow Lily from lesson to lesson, usually sitting with Lily and her friends or the Marauders. Slowly, the shock of spending time with my grandparents began to wear off a little. I supposed it was on account of that when I was talking to Lily or James, it was hard to look at them as my dead relatives, they were too... alive; too carefree.

I began to just enjoy myself, as if I were spending time with Emma or Hugo. In fact, I was enjoying myself so much that it wasn't until ten to eight, when a second-year messenger came up to me to remind me of my meeting with Dumbledore that I thought of McGonagall's letter at all.

"Miss Weasley. I hope I find you well?"

The Hogwarts Headmaster was sat in the centre of his room on one of two cushy armchairs that perfectly matched the ones found in the Gryffindor common room. Once pleasantries were over, he indicated towards the armchair opposite him.

"Please, sit."

I graciously sat down, sighing slightly as I sagged into the seat. It had been a long day.

"Miss Weasley, I have arranged this meeting with you for two reasons. The first is to inform you of the dangers involved in prolonged time travel, whereas the second is to attempt to explore exactly what has caused you to find yourself in this time period in the first place. Do you have any objections to this?"

I shook my head.

"Excellent. Then I shall begin to explain the basic principles of Time-Travel. I do not wish to discredit your intelligence in any way, but I must warn you that Time-Travel is a very complicated subject matter, and as such if you have any queries of any kind, I implore you to ask me them.

"I will begin by explaining the two most common schools of thought that Muggle's have of time travel. The first is the concept that by travelling back in time, any action made in that time period will have major effects in the present. This idea is most commonly explained with the example of an individual heading thousands of years back in time and accidently stepping on a butterfly. By stepping on that butterfly, the individual changes the course of evolution, and as such, humanity has taken a different form in the present. In contrast, the second school of thought suggest that any changes to the past have already taken place in a single fixed timeline, which cannot be truly edited. This theory thus suggests that your present is constant, and cannot be effected by any changes in the timeline, as those changes will have already taken place. Do you understand?"

"Uh, yes, I think so, Sir," I replied, despite partially wondering if the man was speaking another language.

"Wizarding experimentation with time-travel has proven that neither of these theories are completely true, but nor are either of them entirely wrong, either. We have found that time is rather alike a thin sheet of parchment. Although it can be bent and it's shape can change to a certain extent, if you bend it too much, it will rip. Essentially, any minor changes that you make to the past will have already happened in your present, regardless of if you notice it or not. However, if you change a previously realized event - something you know happened in the past - you will essentially rip the paper, and create a parallel universe, which is a very complicated and very bad thing to happen. For this reason, it is essential you find out as much about this time period as possible, so that you do not change previously established events."

I was starting to get a little confused at this point. I could tell Dumbledore recognized this, because he immediately said; "I apologize, I know this must seem a little confusing. In essence, if you know an event took place, you cannot go back in time and change it, without risking immense levels of destruction."

A dull sense of fear began to shroud my thoughts as the elderly man spoke. Seriously, would this guy quit with all the talk of cataclysmic destruction!?

Obviously noting my distress, Dumbledore continued. "Do not fret, Miss Weasley. I have complete faith in your ability to keep our timelines constant."

Awesome. Y'know, I think I might've felt a little more confident if I actually understood a word he was talking about...

"The next question we must ask, is how you came into this time period in the first place..." The aged wizard continued. "I need you to recall as much as you possibly can about the last day you spent within your own time period..."

And so we talked and talked and talked. It was exhausting. Dumbledore demanded every insignificant detail of my day. What I'd had for breakfast, dinner and lunch? How often I'd rehydrated myself? Had I consumed any potions, or chocolate, or irregularly sized parsnips? When I'd last measured myself? Could I recall anything out of the ordinary? And yet by the time I found myself beckoned out of the room, we'd come no closer to solving the mystery of my jump into the past.

Completely worn out, I bid the headmaster goodnight, before descending the long, winding stairs towards Gryffindor Tower. Through the portrait of the Fat Lady, and climbing up into my dormitory, I immediately collapsed into my large, four-poster bed.

"Meeting go alright?" I hear Lily's muffled tone to the left of me. I responded with a light grumble of assent, before burying myself into my pillows.

* * *

**3rd November 2022**

* * *

I swear... all I have ever asked from this world, is just a little bit of consistency.

Because I'll be honest with you, spending the last two days in 1974, was kind of weird. But strangely, even weirder was waking up in my four poster bed with Emma shaking me awake.

"Lily, Lily, come on! We have Defense in twenty minutes!" she frantically yelled, before pacing across the room, throwing me my clothes, and school bag. "If you aren't in the common room in ten minutes, I swear to god I'll tell Professor Longbottom it was you who pissed on his Mimbulus Mimbletonia!" (_It was actually James, but that didn't really bother Emma._)

She then exited the room, allowing me to panic in peace.

_Was I dreaming? Did I imagine it? A vivid nightmare? A strange magical anomaly? Did I actually go back in time? Or was it just some sort of weird hallucination?_

Thoughts continued to circulate around my head, resulting in an overall cloud of anxiety and self-doubt. On the one hand, the idea that I had imagined travelling back in time was an awful lot more likely than spontaneously arriving in the year 1974, but on the other... everything had seemed so vividly real. I really felt like I HAD met my grandparents, and Sirius, and Remus. I couldn't have just made them up; my imagination didn't seem potent enough for that.

I think my head might've run the risk of exploding, had I not been hit with one moment of sudden clarity.

I rushed down the stairs (_in my excitement, conveniently forgetting that I was still in my pajamas_). I flew towards the portrait hole, flying past Emma and Hugo, who looked at my frantic state in bewilderment. (_"You're still not dressed yet?!" screamed Emma._)

I dashed to the grand staircase, taking two steps at a time, before reaching the first floor. I swept past the statue of Dudley the Demented, all the while muttering to myself.

"_Through the red curtain..." _I recited. "_Into the revolving staircase... Down the trapdoor... Past the witch with the toenails..." _

Later, it occurred to me that I must've been one hell of a sight; this slightly possessed looking witch desperately searching near the dungeons in her pyjamas.

"_Into the passage which opens with the torch... then the slide... then the portrait of Ovart the Extravert... then finally..."_

And with a couple of swift kicks to the wall in front of me, I stepped into the passage. I slowly walked down the corridor, before quickly stopping with a gasp of shock as I neared the end. Because in front of me, were three of the most significant sentences I would ever read. In order, they were;

_Luna was here._

_As was the mighty Prongs._

_Pen-15._

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please help the story by leaving a review!**


	4. Brothers in Arms

**Hey all! A billion apologies for the (very) late update. Had a bad case of writer's the size of this update will soften the blow, slightly. I won't bore you all with a long A/N, but I would like to thank **_**Andromeda2000, livestrong617, Amandla123, ChandlerBing12, Bookworm14, TheAuthorThatMustNotBeNamed **_**and**_** GingerGryffinRawr **_**for reviewing the last chapter!**

**But as always, the biggest thanks must go to my lovely Beta appa-appa-away, for giving up her own time to proof-read this (ridiculously long) chapter :D  
**

* * *

_Hey Dad,_

_I know I haven't owled in a little while - sorry - I've been drowning in homework. I promise to send you and mum a decent letter sometime this week. Oh, and I'll remind James and Albus to send you something as well. I just have a quick favor to ask. I was wondering if you could send me a letter today, telling me everything you know about the Marauders, and your mum and dad. I know it seems like an odd request, it's just for a project that I've been working on, and I could really use your input._

_Please reply ASAP_

_Love, Lils._

* * *

With a sigh, I rolled up my parchment, before placing it into the claws of my owl, Nargle (_a suggestion from my namesake; Auntie Luna, who gave me the owl)_. With a quick nibble of my hand, and two loud hoots, Nargle left his perch and flew out of the owlery, towards the horizon. I spent a couple of minutes watching the creature's retreating form before I quickly hurried down the stairs of the west tower and dashed across the seventh floor towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Honking Hippogriffs," I quickly muttered to the Fat Lady, who obligingly opened at my command. I jumped through the portrait hole and dashed up to the Fourth Year Dormitory, well aware that I was - at this point - late for my first lesson, and still in my pyjamas.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" were the words I was greeted with when I entered the dormitory. Emma was stood at the far end of the room, fully dressed, with my books and clothes for the day in a neat pile to the left of her. I gratefully reached out for the pile of clothes before answering her question.

"I went to the owlery to send a letter to Dad, and I... errm... needed to check something in a corridor."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Lils, you can call it '_making out_' like the rest of us."

I glared at her before snatching a sock from behind her back. "I was NOT making out! I just needed to see something in that corridor below the dungeons."

Emma's expression turned from amusement to disgust. "You were snogging a Slytherin?!" she asked, pulling a face.

"I wasn't snogging anything!" I exclaimed. "I just wanted to see some graffiti that my Dad told me my granddad and his friends had left."

"And you were so excited to see this bit of graffiti, that you forgot to change from your pajamas into robes...?"

"It was a really exciting bit of graffiti..."

Shaking her head, she passed me my books, before beginning to walk out of the room. "C'mon," she grinned. "Let's head down to the kitchens. We can catch up on Defence another time. I missed breakfast trying to figure out where you'd buggered off to." And - deciding that the stress of my past couple of days most definitely entitled me to a decent breakfast - I followed her out of the room.

"So, what were you _actually_ doing?" asked Emma, as we dug through a massive plate of pancakes that the house elves had 'just whipped up for us.'

"Honestly nothing!" I exclaimed, trying to sound as convincing as I possibly could. "My dad mentioned a bit of graffiti that my grandparents left when they were at school, and you know how I get in the morning. I just woke up with this crazy desire to look at it. And I was kinda groggy and wasn't thinking straight, so I headed straight to the dungeons."

Emma shook her head, before rolling her eyes and returning to her pancakes. "You are one odd bird, Lily Potter." she remarked. "Always have been, always will be. I still remember that time you woke up me and Hugo in the dead of night to go 'exploring.' I nearly died from hypothermia when you got us stuck in the kitchen freezer!"

I gave her a look of disbelief. "Emma, that was YOU!" I cried.

"Was it?" she asked, an expression of comical confusion lighting up her face. "Really?"

I nodded, slowly.

"Oh! Actually, yeah, that's right. That was a really fun night; we should do it again sometime. Forget I ever said anything."

I snorted into my pancakes. "I forgot to properly thank you for having my clothes and stuff ready this morning. I dunno what came over me."

"I still say you were making out with someone," Emma smirked. "Hugo was really confused. I don't think he's had as much experience of your morning craziness as I have."

"That'd be because Hugo never decided to replace my alarm clock with a Niffler," I smirked back. "Nor did he transfigure my quilt into ice-cubes, or levitate my mattress onto the dormitory stairs, then slide the mattress down to the bottom while I was still on it!"

"I forgot about that," she grinned. "I'd never heard so many swear words in such a short period of time. That being said, even you admitted it was fun. We ended up using that staircase as a mattress slide for the next week."

"...And Hugo was really jealous because he couldn't try it," I finished, my grin matching hers. "Those were the days."

"Jeez, it was only a couple of years ago, Lils," Emma smirked. "We aren't that old, yet."

"Sorry," I said, looking down at my now-empty plate. "Just had a pretty intense couple of days."

Emma looked at me, her previous grin turning to a look of concern. "You okay?" she asked. "You seem a bit out of it."

"Like I said, a pretty crazy couple of days."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Nah," I replied, cutting the conversation dead. "We should get going, we've already ditched first period. Longbottom'll do his nut if we skip second as well."

Emma looked like she wanted to push the topic further, but held her tongue and followed me out of the kitchens.

"Y'know you can always talk to me if you want to, right?" she said, as we started to walk to our next class.

"'Course," I smiled, grabbing her hand, feeling suddenly very appreciative of my best friend.

* * *

_Hey Lils..._

_I've gotta be honest, I was a little surprised to get your letter this morning. You've never really shown much interest in your grandparents and their friends before. Still, I'm glad you're curious about your heritage. They're a pretty interesting bunch of people, if you ask me, and it's good for you to find out about your roots._

_I can't really think of a decent way to start this letter, so I guess I'll begin with Remus Lupin, because I knew him the longest, and he had the most obvious impact in your life (he is, as you know, the father of Teddy.)_

_Remus, was always the quiet, studious type. Probably a side-effect of his condition, Remus never quite reached the level of boisterousness as James and Sirius. That isn't to say he hid behind them, Remus instead tried to keep them in check. He was the moral compass of the Marauders, and the other three looked to him for advice. He was also very close with Lily, before either James, Peter or Sirius were._

_From what he told me, Remus came to Hogwarts expecting to be hated and loathed, thinking that he could never become close with any of his classmates, for fear of them finding out his secret. He likewise believed that if anyone did find out his condition, the whole school would soon be alerted, and he would be forced to leave Hogwarts. However, through whatever circumstance, James and Sirius befriended Remus, and inevitably found out his secret. But to Remus' shock, they neither judged him nor feared him, as much of the wizarding community would've done._

_My father and godfather were not perfect individuals, and both were flawed in their own ways, but I honestly feel that the way they accepted Remus Lupin was one of the most admirable things either of them ever did._

* * *

**September 4th, 1974**

* * *

With a crink of my neck, and a stretch of my aching bones, I rose from my bed to observe my surroundings. Even before I'd lifted myself from my mattress, I'd suspected I wasn't in my own bed; waking up without Emma physically assaulting me is a rare experience for me in the real world. A flash of Lily's ginger hair from the bed next to me confirmed my suspicions. Still drowsy, I picked up my watch from my bedside table and blearily looked at it's face, which showed the time as 5:15. Knowing there was no way I would fall back asleep, I dragged my dreary body down to the Gryffindor common room, where I encountered a hazel-eyed boy, with sandy-brown hair, lazily reading by the embers of the fireplace.

"Luna?" Remus - who I had previously thought to be consumed in his book - turned around to face me, obviously alerted by the noise I made walking down from the girls dormitory. "You're up early...?"

"Couldn't sleep," I said, simply. "Though I could say the same to you," I added, grinning at the weary boy.

"I suffer from monthly Insomnia," he responded, not returning my smile. I fell quiet, and for a short while, neither of us spoke. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude," Remus apologized. "I tend to get a bit cranky when I haven't had much sleep. Would you like to go down to breakfast?"

I looked at him in bewilderment. In all honesty, I don't think I'd ever been up at this time in the morning. "Do they even serve food this early?" I asked.

"Uh-huh. It's hardly busy, but a couple of students and some of the teachers who have to set up for morning lessons are down at this point. Food's on the table from half-five onwards. And it's always at it's hottest if you get there first." Remus flashed me a grin, before placing his book on the coffee table in front of him, and heading towards the portrait hole. "Anyway, I feel like I haven't got to know you well enough Luna," he said, while holding the door open. "All I know is that you're the American exchange student who can conjure a pretty awesome swamp and was unlucky enough to get in the way of Sirius' bad aim."

"Well, quite frankly, that pretty much sums me up," I joked. "But alright, I'll bite. What would you like to know?"

And so for the next twenty minutes, I answered all of Remus' questions, of which there were many. My family, old friends, what I thought of Hogwarts, and the Marauders and Lily? Had I heard of Dumbledore before now, how was I finding lessons and did I miss America much? It was nice, most of what I was saying was the truth, with only the occasional lie slipped in if he asked too much about life in America.

"Y'know Remus Lupin," I mused, after telling him about the first time I rode a broomstick. "You are shockingly good at getting people to talk about themselves. But in the last twenty minutes, I don't think you've said a word about yourself. Favourite holiday destination?"

He looked at me in surprise. "Pardon?"

"Favourite. Holiday. Destination." I repeated, enunciating each word clearly.

"Errm... my family has a holiday home in the south of France," Remus began, before slowly warming to the topic. "Near Lyon; we used to visit there every year when I was growing up. Since I got to Hogwarts, we stopped going as frequently. Still, every second summer my family spends three weeks there. Last time - this past summer - I managed to convince them to take the rest of the Marauders as well. It was chaos. We agreed to spend a long weekend by ourselves in Paris, and we ended up losing Sirius for about four hours one night. We eventually found him at 2 o'clock in the morning, pissing on the Arc de Triomphe. To this day I'm shocked he wasn't arrested."

I snorted. "Sounds like Sirius. But that was good, okay... this time... worst childhood injury."

The moment I said it, I wanted to take the words back. Had I just reminded him of the night he was bitten? The night he first encountered Fenrir Greyback?

But to my surprise, Remus just laughed and responded, "When first years start Hogwarts, we're forced to take compulsory flying lessons. So, during my first week, they combined the Gryffindor and Slytherin first years, and put them all in one group, and we were instructed to just mount our brooms, lightly hover, before coming back to the ground. And as you can imagine, it was complete mayhem." I nodded, vividly remembering my first flying lesson. "You effectively had two groups form. You'd have the likes of James, and Sirius, who'd flown all their lives and were just naturally good at it, coupled with the likes of Me, Lily and Peter."

I continued to nod as he told the story, starting to get a feel for where this story was going. "So anyway, first flying lesson, I was definitely a bad flier, but I still wasn't the worst. That was Lily, who'd never ridden a broom before and was terrified of heights. I still really sucked though; so I said that we should do the hovering together, that it'd be less scary. She agreed, and we both mounted our brooms, and began to rise from the ground, slowly. But about halfway up, Lily panics, and starts flailing her arms madly. She and her broom tip, so she grabbed the first thing she could lay a hand on... which just so happened to be me."

I couldn't hide my grin at this point, but gesture at him to keep going. "So anyway, Lily falling onto me made my broom jolt forwards, kinda like a panicked horse, and the two of us hurtled towards a tree that was placed about thirty metres away. We crashed into the tree, before falling to the ground, with me hitting the grass first, and Lily landing on top of me. I broke three bones, and completely destroyed the broom. And the worst part was the reaction I got from all of the other first-years. Lily turned scarlet every time I tried to talk to her for the next THREE MONTHS, and Sirius still chants 'Moony and Evans, crashing into a tree' to this day."

At this point, I was openly laughing at Remus, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was chuckling along with me. When my giggles eventually subsided, I teased; "Full credit. I have two older brothers, and not even I could think of an injury story that good."

In response, Remus grinned at me. We talked for the rest of the morning, me telling stories of growing up with Albus and James, and him of the adventures he and the Marauders got up to.

"...So anyways, me, James and Sirius wake up the next morning to Peter screaming. Somehow in the night, a half shaven Mrs. Norris had climbed into his bed, and fallen asleep on his head. And we still have no idea why Mrs. Norris was missing half of her fur, or why we found her in Peter's bed. But Filch swears that she had a fully-grow coat the night before, so Peter had to spend the next week in detention anyway!"

I leaned against the table in an attempt to control my laughter. Remus shot me his signature wolf-like grin, while Lily arrived and took the seat immediately to my left. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Remus was just telling me this really funny story about his first flying lesson," I teased. Lily looked at me in confusion for a couple of moments, before her cheeks flushed in realization.

"God Remus, why'd you have to tell her that story?" she moaned. Remus merely chuckled in response while I openly laughed.

"Did either of you fly after that?"

Remus grimaced. "When two of your best mates are Sirius and James, you don't get much of a choice. I eventually managed to get used to a broom, but I refused to try out for the Quidditch team, no matter how often Sirius told me to. I commentate instead."

We then both turned to face Lily, who turned red again. "Let's just say that I became mysteriously sick whenever we had any other flying lessons."

I snorted, before scraping the last food off my plate and finishing the dregs of my coffee. "Well, that'll be me," I declared, standing up. "Doing anything interesting today?" I asked Lily.

"Does going to the library to write a potions essay count as interesting?" she replied, wryly.

I laughed. "Shit, I forgot about that. Mind if I tag along?"

"Sure," she smiled.

I turned to face Remus. "I'm heading back to the common room. You coming?"

He nodded, drank the rest of his pumpkin juice and followed me out of the great door.

"You're pretty confident for someone who's only been here a day," He remarked casually.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I first got to Hogwarts, I was lost pretty much all of the time. It took me a week just to learn how to get from the Common Room to the Great Hall. All those moving staircases, and secret passageways and doors that move. Completely threw me off," he explained.

I try to keep my cool. "Just got a good sense of direction, I suppose..." I lied.

From there, I masterfully steer the conversation away from why I'm so talented at finding my way around Hogwarts, to less dangerous topics. We babbled along nicely for the rest of the journey back to the Fat Lady, at which point Remus paused before delivering the password.

"It was really nice getting to know you, Luna," he said. "I feel that outside of the Marauders, I don't spend enough time getting to know my classmates."

I smile back at him. "It was nice getting to know you too, Remus," I said.

"Call me Moony," he told me, before the Fat Lady swung open, and he stepped into the common room, retreating towards the boys' dormitory. From an armchair besides me, Sirius emitted a low whistle.

"Y'know, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you're the second non-marauder he's ever told to call him that." Sirius chuckled softly. "You should be honoured," he mused, before standing up, and following Remus up to the boys' dormitory.

* * *

_Weirdly enough, my mum is probably the person I know the least about from my parents generation. I obviously knew Sirius and Remus personally, and I found out a fair amount about my dad from them, but they were usually quite tight-lipped about my mum. _

_My mum grew up in a rather small house in a town called Cokeworth, neighbouring the Snape family's much larger house, on Spinners End. She displayed significant signs of magic from a young age, catching the attention of Severus, who was her friend as they grew up. I don't know a huge amount about your great-grandparents, aside from that they died a little after Lily left school, and that Lily had a good relationship with her parents. In contrast, Lily had a fairly conflicted relationship with your great-aunt Petunia. Until Lily received her Hogwarts letter, she was very close to her older sister. However, due to a mix of rejection and jealousy, these feelings changed when Lily arrived at Hogwarts, with Petunia regarding her as a 'freak.'_

_Their relationship continued to deteriorate from there onwards. As such, Lily found herself growing steadily closer to Severus (along with her own school friends) as the individual who introduced her to the wizarding world, and accepted her for being a witch. This created an incredibly strong emotional bond between the two of them, and was a major cause for Lily taking so long to realize Snape's descent into the dark arts, and how he had been treating muggleborns asides from her._

_Her relationship with your grandfather was no less complicated. For most of her years at Hogwarts, Lily showed nothing but intense dislike for James, thinking him as arrogant and a bully. When they were both appointed head students in her final year, Lily was forced to re-evaluate her perspective on James, who had matured during his sixth year. Lily became rapidly closer to him and all of the Marauders, and they married soon after leaving Hogwarts._

* * *

"Sev, please! Slow down!"

"I keep telling you Lily, It isn't your place to tell me what to do!"

"I know it isn't! I just think you should have swallowed your pride and ignored them, rather than let a full-scale fight blow out! Did you see some of the hexes Mulciber was trying to use on Black!?"

"So? Black's a prick!"

"Well... maybe, but it isn't a good idea for everyone to start hexing each other. Especially not Mulciber. I've heard about the sort of magic he's learnt. It's really dark stuff, Sev."

"Lily, you know you can't trust the Gryffindor gossip mill. Mulciber's harmless. A couple of innocent spells here and there. No worse than what Potter and Black get up too."

"Potter and Black don't use dark magic, Sev!"

"So you're defending them now!"

"I'm not defending them! But at least they don't go around using dark magic on muggleborns! And what's gotten into you recently? You're acting so strangely. Every time another Slytherin comes over you act like we aren't friends. It's insane!"

"Lily, you're imagining things. I've gotta go. We'll talk later," said Snape, before heading towards a larger group of Slytherins at the bottom of the corridor. I couldn't hear what they were saying, just a lot of sniggering, and I'm pretty sure someone said to '_drop the mudblood bitch._'

Lily sighed and walked towards me, leaning against the thick walls of the Library.

"Sorry you had to see that..." she muttered, blushing slightly.

"It's fine," I responded, scratching the back of my head awkwardly. "You're welcome to go and find him if you like?"

Lily shook her head. "Don't worry. He'll need some time to sulk," she grimaced. "If there is one thing Severus Snape is good at, it's sulking."

I smiled wryly, before we crossed the Library and found some empty seats. I took out my potions textbook, and we chatted while we attempted to write Slughorn's essay.

"So, what's going on with you and Snape?"

Lily sighed deeply, tucking a couple of hairs behind her ear. "It's nothing, we'll get over it. He just gets a bit... paranoid... about Potter and the rest of the Marauders, and I get a bit frustrated with his choices of friends."

I nod slowly. "Who are his friends?"

"Mulciber's the one I have the biggest problem with. Well, him and Avery. They're both a year above us, and they're downright horrible."

I can't help but grin. "It's funny, I think that's the first time I've heard you say something nasty about someone. Apart from towards James and Sirius, that is."

Lily grinned back, momentarily forgetting her troubles. "Oh, I can be a complete bitch when I want to be," she informed me, smirking. "But Mulciber and Avery deserve it. They go around hexing muggleborn students who are younger than them, just because they can. And they aren't little curses either... last term Avery put a second-year in the hospital for two weeks. Course, there was no proof that it was him, but he was boasting to all of the Slytherin's about it for the rest of the term."

"So generally not very nice people?" I summarize.

"You can say that again," Lily groanded. "It isn't often I meet someone I wish Potter and Black would hex _more_, but I make an exception for those two. Rumour has it they're planning to join up with the Death Eaters after they finish school. I wouldn't pay them too much attention usually, but Sev's becoming really good friends with them. It frightens me a little bit. I'm scared he's going to end up way too deep within the wrong crowd. And, quite frankly, to them all I am is a muggleborn. A mudblood."

I nodded, sombrely.

"I'm just a little scared for our friendship," Lily concluded.

I couldn't help but feel a little uncertain as to how to proceed. Thankfully, Lily didn't seem to need much response from me.

"Ah, I'm probably just overreacting..." she muttered, before I silenced her.

"No you aren't," I told her. "Look... I errm... Well... Obviously I don't know much about the details between you and Snape, but it doesn't sound like you're overreacting. You shouldn't give up so easily! Let him know if you have a problem."

"I do!" Lily exclaimed, sniffing loudly. "He just doesn't seem to listen."

Lily looked like she was bordering dangerously on tears, so I quickly slung my books into my bag, before getting up.

Lily started in shock. "I'm sorry! I know I'm probably boring you with all this talk about Severus, but you don't have to go. I'll shut up, I swear."

"Don't be ridiculous," I told her. "I just thought we should take this conversation to somewhere a little more... private."

Lily quickly scanned the room, rapidly taking in the pair of Hufflepuff girls who were inching closer, ears pricked at the sign of gossip, along with Madam Pince, who was glaring towards us.

"Ah... yeah, maybe that's a good idea," she admitted, gathering up her books, and following me out of the library. I led her down towards the ground floor, heading a little below the Great Hall, in the direction of the kitchens. Once the pear had been tickled, transforming into a vibrant, green doorknob, we were ambushed by half a dozen house-elves.

"Good afternoon, young misses," squeaked the one at the head of the group. "Welcome to the Hogwarts Kitchens. Is there any services we can be providing to you today?"

"Could we have a pot of tea?" I asked, using my politest voice. "Along with any dessert you have left over from last night, if possible?"

"Of course!" smiled the elf, beckoning us towards a table at the end of the room. It was completely spotless, with four chairs around it, and a candle at the centre. I looked at the table in confusion. I'd been to the kitchens plenty of times before, but had never seen the table before. I asked one of the elves seating us about it.

"The table is a new addition!" I was informed, by one of the elves seating us. "We've been regularly visited by four young masters, and wanted to insure they received adequate seating and service when they came to visit. So we brought in a table for them to use, and keep it clean for whenever they decide to visit!"

"The Marauders," snorted Lily. "Typical."

"Handy right now," I pointed out, as we were brought a large pot of earl gray, alongside two cups. "I'm very sorry, young misses, but I'm afraid we only have three desserts available right now..." The tea-bearing elf announced. "We have some lemon meringue pie, custard creams and chocolate fudge cake. That said, if you wish for something else, we would happily cook whatever you request-"

"-no, don't worry!" I rapidly interrupted him. "Chocolate cake?" I quickly asked Lily.

"Some chocolate cake would be _amazing_," she replied, directing her words towards the house elf. We barely had time to thank him, before he dashed off to procure our food.

"So..." I began, taking a sip of my tea. "What're you going to do about it?"

Lily looked a little stunned. "About what?"

"About Severus," I clarified. "Are you going to talk to him, or what?"

"Probably not," Lily admitted, her expression miserable. "I never do! He'll apologize later on, when he's not around his friends, and doesn't feel particularly pressured to '_drop the mudblood_', and I'll forgive him, and we'll pretend nothing happened. And then he'll go and hex Black or something, and the cycle will resume."

"Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask... how do James and Sirius fit into all of this?"

"Oh, Black and Potter have hated Severus since first year. They just never seem to let up on each other, and it's always an act of 'retaliation.' It's pathetic. Potter's the worst. Always hexing Sev to try and make himself look good. Like today."

"What'd he do today?"

"By Marauder standards, it was actually pretty tame. Just a tripping jinx. But Potter's been trying to aggravate a response from Sev since the term started, and this time pushed him over the line. He hexed Potter back, which caused Sirius to join in, and then Avery and Mulciber, and then Remus and Pettigrew, and soon enough you have about twelve Gryffindor's and Slytherin's trying to put each other in the Hospital Wing."

"What happened to them?" I asked.

"Sev, Remus and Avery were all fine. I'm pretty sure that Pettigrew's in the hospital wing overnight, alongside Mulciber, who had his jaw dislocated. Dunno what happened to Potter. Hope he's in the Hospital Wing though." I shot her a look. "Not for anything too serious..." she admitted. "Just enough so that he won't bother me for a couple of days."

I snorted as the house elves returned with the chocolate cake.

"Thank you!" I beamed at them as they bowed and headed back to the other side of the kitchen.

Lily whistled as she admired the food. "Christ, they don't do anything half-heartedly, do they?" she commented, before tucking in.

For a couple of minutes we ate in silence, before I interrupted her thoughts.

"So... what do you actually think about James, and that lot?"

Lily took a couple of moments to think through her response. "They aren't that bad. I mean, I've always liked Remus, and I've never especially gotten along with Black, but I don't dislike him either. I just can't put up with him constantly picking on Sev. And he probably can't deal with me rejecting his best mate so much.

"I don't really have anything against Pettigrew, I've just never really gotten to know him. He sort of likes other people's shadows too much... it's hard to tell whether he's being himself or just faking. As for James, maybe in different circumstances we could be friends. But I can't put up with how he treats Sev, and how he bullies other students. He's just so... arrogant and pig-headed. It's intolerable!" She looked like she was about to start ranting so I smoothly cut across her.

"He'll get over himself," I assured her. "He'll grow up, and mature and his head will deflate. Promise."

She gave me a grin. "Is that so?"

I winked. "Uh-huh. And you'll fall deeply in love and one of your grandchildren will be named after him," I added, teasingly.

Lily snorted. "Right, glad to know you have my life planned out for me. But seriously... eww. Anyway, new topic: how're you finding Hogwarts?"

I grinned. "It seems really cool here. It's been really nice getting to know you and everyone else."

"Anyone in particular?" asked Lily, a smirk playing around her lips. "Sirius seems to have taken a real shine to you."

"Ew!" I exclaimed, not wanting to think about the fact that I was talking to my grandmother about my dad's godfather '_taking a shine to me_'.

"Good response," smiled Lily, before finishing up what was left on her plate and rising from her seat. "Ready to go?"

I nodded, and we left the kitchens, thanking the elves profusely for their kindness. We slowly walked towards the common room, chatting idly en-route. As we reached the third floor, we were suddenly interrupted by Snape, who ran up to us.

"Lily!" he cried, as we drew nearer. "I've been looking for you everywhere, I couldn't find you at the library or anything. I wanted to say I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't of-"

"-It's so weird how suddenly sorry you are, the moment there aren't any Slytherin's around, Sev," Lily cut him off, coldly.

"Lily, you're overreacting..." Snape attempted, before Lily could shut him down again.

"Wrong response," she informed him, scathingly. "I'm sorry, I've gotta go. We'll talk later..." she recited, before pushing past him towards the common room. I gave the boy a look of slight pity before following the fiery redhead down the corridor.

"Too much?" she asked in an undertone as we walked off.

"Just enough," I informed her. "Well done for sticking your ground," I added, giving her a subtle hi-five.

Suffice to say, the next time I heard a group of Slytherin's refer to Lily Evans as '_that mudblood bitch_' they were promptly told to shut the hell up by Severus Snape.

* * *

_Next I thought I'd tell you a bit about my godfather, Sirius._

_Out of all of my father's friends, I'd argue that Sirius encountered the most hardship throughout his life. He was born into 'the noble and most ancient house of Black,' a family notorious for their anti-muggle stance. He never discussed it, but I've long thought that Sirius was abused from a young age, and even if he wasn't, his relationship with his family was far from healthy. Sirius stuck out for being one of the only members of the Black family to be sorted into Gryffindor (as opposed to Slytherin) and Hogwarts became a sort of refuge for him. He found a new family in James, Peter and Remus, and became very popular and well-liked throughout his house._

_But while Hogwarts was a refuge, he still had problems at home, and Sirius was inevitably a flawed individual. Sirius had a younger brother named Regulus, who he was very close to. Naturally, Sirius wanted Regulus to follow in his footsteps and be sorted into Gryffindor, but in reality, Regulus was sorted with the rest of his family into Slytherin. This bothered Sirius a lot more than he was willing to admit, and as he grew older, the divide between Sirius and his family became deeper, something reflected in his hatred towards Slytherin. When he reached the age of sixteen (before the start of his sixth year) Sirius ran away from his family, leaving Regulus behind. From there he severed all ties with the Blacks, and was disowned, blasted off the family tree. He ignored Regulus, and his anger towards Slytherins reached new heights, peaking at the end of sixth year, where he was nearly responsible for the death of Severus Snape._

_I'd like to say things got better for Sirius from there, but they really didn't. James and Lily were betrayed by Peter, and Sirius was framed for their deaths. He spent the next thirteen years in Azkaban, constantly tormented by Dementors, until he eventually escaped, with the singular goal of tracking down Peter, and killing him. But Peter escaped, along with Sirius' last chance for freedom. He spent the next two years on the run from the Ministry, until he was eventually killed by Bellatrix Lestrange at the end of my fifth year._

_And yet, I think his biggest regret would've been Regulus. After Sirius began ignoring his brother, Regulus fell further and further into the dark arts, eventually becoming a Death Eater. However, Regulus was not inherently a bad person. He cared greatly for his House Elf, Kreacher, who Voldemort left to die while testing the defences for one of his horcruxes. This action resulted in Regulus leaving the Death Eaters, and he died trying to destroy the Horcrux. _

_I think Sirius never entirely came to grips with his death._

* * *

"Whatcha reading?"

I looked up from Dad's letter to see the devil himself - Sirius - leaning onto the back of my armchair, a lazy smirk playing around his lips.

"Letter from my Dad. Not that it's any of your business," I teased.

"What can I say? I'm naturally inquisitive. A prodigy, they say," Sirius grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "Y'know, I hear that chicks are attracted to modesty."

"Funny. If that's true, I must be _really_modest."

"Did you just come over here to annoy me, or...?"

"Well, although annoying you is pretty fun-"

"-Don't be a git, Sirius-"

"-I actually came to ask if you'd like to come to the Library with me."

I shot him a smile. "Do you even know what a library is, Sirius?"

"Real funny Weasley. Coming?"

"I was just there!" I sighed.

"Well," Sirius teased, feigning distress. "If you just don't care for me..."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh fine, I'll come," I grumbled, causing Sirius to grin. "It's not as if I don't have enough homework. Just let me get my things." I immediately gather up the small pile of books in front of me (_according to McGonagall, being warped 50 years in the past is not a valid reason for not having your Transfiguration Essay ready for Monday_) before standing up and following him out of the common room.

We idly chat on our way to the library, until Sirius picked up the book he had been searching for.

"...Seriously? We came all the way down here for a book on toadstools?" I asked, incredulously.

"'The Universal Atlas of Magical Toadstools and their properties', is not just a book about toadstools," Sirius said, defensively, issuing the text. "It is _the_book on toadstools. And it's damn useful for figuring out exactly which mushrooms to grind up and coat Slytherin's shoes with, so quit-"

But Sirius stopped short when he saw the group of wizards crowding around the door, all wearing robes of matching green.

I hear Sirius swear under his breath. "Great," he muttered to me. "Hope you're ready to meet the family."

We walked towards the exit of the library, and I kept my gaze fixed upon my shoes. On occasional glances up, I recognized a couple of faces within the group, notably Regulus.

We walked past the group, and I quietly prayed to the heavens that a brawl was not about to take place in middle of a crowded library. We got about halfway past the group, until one of the older-looking members of the group called out; "Oi Regulus - Isn't your brother going to introduce his girlfriend?!" To which the rest of them laughed.

"She isn't my girlfriend Nottm" Sirius retorted. "Do you mind, we're trying to get through."

The Slytherin (_Remus would later tell me that Nott was a sixth-year with a nasty reputation for snapping muggleborn's wands 'by accident'_) smirked. "But we just wanted to meet the new girl. Welcome her into the school." He then turned to directly face me. "Girl! What's your blood status?"

I scowl at him. "My name isn't 'girl,' dickhead. It's Luna. And for what it counts, I'm pureblood. Not that it should matter," I added. Through all of this, Regulus remained completely silent.

Nott stopped smirking, and instead, his face adopted a far uglier expression. "Don't speak to me like that, _**girl**_. Typical Gryffindor, all pride and no respect."

"We could say the same to you Nott," Sirius said, his tone venomous. "Now are you going to play nicely, and let us through, or am I going to have to spike all of your pumpkin juice?"

"But Sirius, we were having such a nice chat. And I know you've been meaning to talk to your brother for so long. What was it I heard you saying to Potter the other day... that you wanted him to stop mixing with '_that Slytherin scum._' Seems a bit hypocritical, considering you spend your time with filthy mudbloods and the likes of Potter and Lupin."

"Nott, I'm pretty sure I told you to let us through," replied Sirius, his hands balled into fists.

"But you still haven't talked to your brother. I'm sure he'd like to speak with you. Regulus-" he said, sharply, turning towards the third year. "Anything you'd like to say to your dear sibling?"

Regulus mumbled something, that no-one could hear. Nott smiled sadistically. "Sorry, didn't quite catch that. You might want to speak up."

This time, Regulus spoke a little louder. I still couldn't quite understand what he was saying, but I'm pretty sure I heard the words '_blood traitor_.'

"What a lovely little family reunion," Nott announced, as the Slytherins parted to let us through. As we began to walk down the corridor, Nott yelled after us. "Black! Even your brother knows you're a worthless blood-traitor who doesn't deserve to carry a name as pure as Black! Not that you will for long! You're an outcast in your own family!"

Sirius quickened his pace, his expression stony.

Regulus remained silent.

"Sirius - wait up!"

The lanky teenager stormed down the second-floor corridors, leaving me to jog behind him.

"Sirius, please!" I yelled, still desperately trying to keep pace.

He spun on his heel to face me. "Yes?" he asked, his tone acidic.

I was immediately stunned by the harshness of his voice. His expression - usually boisterous and carefree - had turned stony.

"I'm sorry," I squeaked, suddenly feeling about three feet tall. "I know about you and Regulus..." I began, before Sirius cut me off.

"No, Luna - you really don't. In fact, you don't know shit about me. Now would you please, fuck off."

I grasped for words, but my tongue was tied.

"Get outta my way," he sneered, before pushing past me, and continuing down the corridor.

I yelled after him, but inevitably, didn't follow.

* * *

_James Potter, was a bit of an enigma._

_On the one hand, I do think he was a fundamentally good person. He was loyal, caring and (in most instances) kind. He was brave and noble, and generally looked past the prejudices that were common within the higher classes. Essentially, he was the perfect Gryffindor._

_But inevitably, I think that was his downfall at times. James was usually not a discriminatory person. His best friends included a werewolf, a outcast and someone of lower social status than himself. He married a muggleborn. And generally, he would judge people for their personality and strength of character... _

_...unless that individual was a Slytherin. I think my father loved Lily for all his life, even before he knew what love really was. And I think that's part of the reason he could never accept Severus Snape, why he constantly bullied him. Eventually James matured, and stopped his feud with Snape. But by then, the damage had been done. His bullying had turned Severus away from Lily, and in turn, into the arms of the Death Eaters._

* * *

"So we heard you pissed off Sirius..." James commented cheerily.

I'd been reading by the shore of the Black Lake when James and Remus wandered over. James was wearing a nonchalant, slightly amused expression, whereas Remus appeared irritated.

"James, you promised you wouldn't say that!" he grumbled.

"Say what?"

"'We heard you pissed off Sirius.' We decided we were going to ease into talking about Sirius."

"No. You decided that. I figured it was better not to beat around the bush."

"It's not better, it's tactless."

"It's honest!"

"Prongs; haven't you learnt anything from getting rejected by Lily?"

"Low blow Moons, Low blow. Just because Lily is in a state of denial, doesn't mean-"

He was cut off as I loudly coughed, to remind the two of them that I was - in fact - still present.

"Oh right, yeah, Sirius," James grinned sheepishly. "Errm, so, y'know, talk about your feelings and shit."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Seriously James-"

"Remus, Luna here is about to talk to us about a sensitive matter. Can you not interrupt her, it's bloody insensitive of you."

I couldn't help but giggle, as Remus' face turned steadily purple. James grinned back, before sitting down on a patch of grass beside me. I placed my book on the ground, resigned to the fact that there would be no getting rid of the two of them.

"So go on, what happened?" James said, as Remus in turn took a seat next to me.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Hasn't Sirius already told you?"

"Kind of," admitted Remus. "But Sirius' interpretation of events tends to consist of a mix of expletives and kicking furniture."

"Well, honestly, I don't really know what happened. We were in the library when a bunch of Slytherins showed up, including his brother. They called him a blood traitor, then I tried to talk to him and he got angry and stormed off."

James nodded silently. "Luna... how important is Wizarding Bloodline in America?"

I looked at him in confusion. "Errm - not all that important. Why?"

"Because," James answered. "In Britain, it matters a lot. It's a little bit ridiculous to be perfectly honest, but in the British wizarding world, two things define your existence; your bloodline and your house."

Remus was nodding to James' words. "And quite frankly," he added. "They're usually connected. Like Sirius is the first Black in centuries to not be sorted into Slytherin..."

"And I can't name a member of my family who wasn't in Gryffindor," interrupted James. "But every so often, you get people like Sirius, who step away from their families. Choose their own paths, if you like. The problem is, there's always bad blood as a result."

"Sirius is seen as a blood-traitor to his family. He's seen as a failure, and a dishonour to the House of Black, which prides itself for it's bloodline, and see's muggles and half-blood's as lesser to them," Remus finished explaining.

James snorted. "You can say that again. Their family motto is _toujours pur_. It's Latin for '_always pure_'." I wrinkled my nose at his words, but James hadn't finished. "Sirius has been branded by his family and his actions. His bloodline is as pure as it gets, but he's far too liberal for the rest of them. He's a muggle sympathiser, and as such, his family sees him as turning against them. So there's a lot of resentment. And instead of just staying quiet like most others would do, Sirius has to be... Sirius. He sticks posters of Muggle women across his room to annoy his mum, always starts a fight with his relatives if they start degrading muggles in anyway, and he's mentioned that he's trying to buy a motorbike."

"Sirius always wanted Regulus to be like him, that they would lead the Black family away from their pureblood mania. But Regulus was never willing to defy his parents as Sirius was, and as such, he was sorted into Slytherin. And instead of just having his family turning him against Sirius, he also had his entire house, and he had less contact with Sirius overall. As such, they grow apart more year after year.

"And that," James concluded sombrely. "Is why Sirius tends to go a bit psycho at the mention of his family, or Regulus, or any of that pure-blooded crap."

I slowly nodded, processing his words. "So... what should I do?"

"Leave him to cool down," Remus advised. "He'll get over himself before the end of the day."

James smiled in encouragement. "Moony's right, Sirius bounces back quickly. Just give him some space, and don't worry."

"And on that note," Remus concluded. "I'm off to go study. Either of you coming?"

Both of us declined in favor of the afternoon sun, and so Remus left me and my grandfather (_Never. Stops. Being. Weird.)_ alone. We lay there in silence for a few minutes, before eventually, the Marauder broke it.

"Luna... you're a girl-" James began.

I snorted. "What gave that away?"

"Let's hypothetically say a guy asks you out. He's charming, funny, witty and really attractive. You'd say yes, right?"

"We're talking about you asking out Lily, right?"

"We're talking about a male, hypothetically asking out you, a female. But, hypothetically, this could be extended to me and Lily, yeah."

"Well, _hypothetically_, it would depend on how he asked me out. Amongst other things."

James pulled a face. "Why does it matter how he asks you out. He's charming, funny and attractive. You say yes! And what 'other things'?!"

I couldn't help but adopt the tone of a mother speaking to a young child. "Modesty and kindness, to start off with. And it strongly depends on how I'm being asked out; I'd want to feel special and that this guy actually really wants to go out with me. So...errm... If _hypothetically_ someone loudly shouting "Hey Evans, go to Hogsmeade with me?" in a crowded corridor, right after that individual has hexed my best friend... I probably wouldn't be filled with feelings of affection."

James turned red, and adopted a slightly sheepish expression. "Ah... so you heard about that, then..."

I gave James a look of sympathy. "The entire library heard about that. Lily didn't particularly keep her voice down."

James sighed, deeply. "I just don't understand what she sees in Snivellus. I mean, c'mon, you can tell he's a prat!"

"Well, yeah, maybe. But that doesn't mean you should bully him!"

"Oh, don't give me that crap. He deserves everything he gets. He's always bullying younger muggleborns, and he hangs around with some of the nastiest Slytherin's in the school. He's just a fowl Death-Eater-In-Training, who has yet to discover the benefits of frequent showering, and you know it."

"He's still Lily's best friend though," I pointed out.

"Eh. I don't really care what she thinks," James muttered, nonchalant.

My eyebrows headed skyward. "Seriously James?" I asked. "That's what you're going for?"

James' ears turn a little pink. "Well, okay, I guess I care a little bit. But she's going to have to see Snape's true colours at some point, right?"

"James... seriously, just leave them alone."

"I do. Mostly. It's just that if we don't hit first, then Snivellus will. He really does ask for it."

"All right James, if you say so. Just don't expect to be Lily's favourite person each time you attack Snape, is all."

"You sound like Moony..." James sighed, raking his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Then you should listen to Remus more," I winked, before feeling a sense of slight disappointment when James didn't even crack a smile. "James, I promise. It'll get better," I informed him sincerely.

He looked up, staring at me intensely. "How're you so sure?" he asked.

I give him a slightly mysterious grin. "Let's just say I have a really good feeling that things'll work out in the long run."

James smiled at me slightly. He still appeared fairly miserable, but a slight glimmer of hope had returned to his eyes. "Thanks Luna," he said. "Y'know, I've actually been meaning to mention to you-"

He hadn't finished his sentence before he was interrupted by another Marauder. "Sorry," Sirius said, in a cheery manner. "Mind I speak to Luna for a few minutes?"

If James was surprised by his friend's sudden appearance, he didn't let it show. "Sure," James told him, before standing up, shooting me a grin and heading back to the castle. I'm also fairly sure he whispered 'good luck' to Sirius as he walked past. After overcoming my initial shock, I adopted the frostiest expression I could muster. "What?" I asked him, bluntly.

"Ah... I see you're angry," Sirius flushed, with a look of apprehension crossing his face. "I suppose that's understandable, considering..."

"No shit," I deadpanned. "And there was me thinking you were stupid."

More blood rushed to Sirius' cheeks. "Look, I'm really sorry Luna. I know I shouldn't have been so harsh towards you," he announced, sounding as if he was reciting a line from a script. I gave him a look to show I was clearly unimpressed.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"What else can I do?!" replied Sirius in despair.

I frowned. I was still irritated, but could feel some of my previous anger ebbing away. "You could tell me what was bothering you?" I informed him, taking a softer tone. "You could tell me what bothered you so much?"

I watched as a series of conflicted emotions flit across his face. "I can't Luna..." he admitted.

"Yes you-"

"No, I can't," Sirius interrupted, with some finality. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have ignored you, and I know you probably want to know what's going on. But, I'm sorry Luna, it's personal. You'll just have to deal with it. I am sorry though."

I sighed deeply. "Yeah, okay. Will you tell me...someday? You were kinda scary back there. It's just so weird seeing you... serious."

Sirius rolled his eyes, before leaning against the grass beneath him. "Ah..." he smirked. "That pun."

"I haven't gotten to use it before!"

"And I'm sure you will never use it again..." remarked Sirius.

"Of course not. No more puns on your name," I pledged.

"Thank you."

"I'm very serious about it. No puns."

"Luna..."

"I'm sorry, that was the last one. Seriously."

"Luna...!"

"Crap, I keep doing them, don't I? I think I have a problem. This is getting really serious."

"Are you ever going to stop?" Sirius asked with a roll of the eyes that didn't quite hide his smile.

"I would, but I honestly don't think I can," I smirked, as Sirius laughed. "Don't laugh - I'm serious!"

"Please, get them all out of the way..." the lanky teen snorted, before getting up and starting to walk back towards the castle. "I'd much rather get them over with now."

"Relax I'm just joking." I grinned, before getting up and following him back towards Hogwarts. "You've got to stop taking things so seriously..."

* * *

_So... that's the Marauder's (sans. Peter, who was such a complicated individual he'd probably take up his own letter.) I've gotta say, I'm still a little bit surprised you wanted to know about your grandparents, but I'm definitely glad you're interested in your heritage!_

_Oh, while I'm thinking about it - your mum told me to tell you to make sure you invite Emma over for the Christmas holidays. She says it'll be nice to catch up with her again, and she can understand you might get a little bored being by yourself at Christmas (though personally, I think she's crazy. I can't imagine being bored with two brothers as... energetic... as your own.) Still, it'll be nice to have you kids back in the house. It gets a little boring when I'm not having to put out around three or four fires a week. Very quiet with just me and your Mum._

_Hope school is going well for you, and your not too stressed out with the work. You sounded a little frazzled in your letter. Look after yourself and write back soon! It's always nice to hear from you._

_Missing you, as always;_

_Dad._

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I promise to update more promptly for next chapter.**

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